European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association

Abstract

The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association plays a pivotal role in the governance of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), which aims to create a federated and open environment for sharing research data and related services across Europe and globally. It operates as a collaborative body, bringing together a wide range of stakeholders, including research-performing organizations, data service providers, and national governments.

The Association works to align practices and standards for open science across countries, disciplines, and institutions, and promotes the adoption of the FAIR principles.

It collaborates with national and regional initiatives to integrate research data infrastructures into a seamless, interoperable ecosystem.

It supports the development of technical frameworks, protocols, and services to facilitate open access to research data and scientific outputs.

It acts as a voice for the research and data community in Europe, advocating for policies that support open science and helps build consensus on best practices, standards, and governance models for open science infrastructures.

It collaborates with the European Commission and other governing bodies to shape policies that support open science.

While primarily a European initiative, the EOSC Association actively engages with global organizations and initiatives, contributing to international discussions on open science and research data management.

Overview

Country	European Union
Start date	2020
Annual Budget	n/a
Responsible organisation(s)	Academic cooperation
Target group(s)	policy makers, researchers and research organisations , infrastructure providers, industry, and citizens.
Policy instrument type	Association of research organisations, infrastructure providers, and national representatives

Background

The EOSC Association was established on 29 July 2020 as part of the broader European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) initiative. Its creation was stimulated by the need for a coordinated governance structure to drive the development and implementation of the EOSC.

The EOSC Association was established at the initiative of the European Commission (EC) and the broader research community in Europe. It is part of the EC's efforts to develop a Digital Single Market for research data, ensuring that publicly funded research data is FAIR. The main driver for its establishment was the recognition that the fragmented landscape of research data infrastructures in Europe required better coordination and a shared governance framework.The European Commission's EOSC Declaration (2017) and subsequent reports (e.g., the EOSC Strategic Implementation Plan in 2018) identified the need for a dedicated body to engage stakeholders, establish technical and policy frameworks, and oversee EOSC implementation.

The EOSC Association is supported and partially funded (indirectly) by the European Commission through various Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 projects. The Association operates as an independent legal entity but works closely with the EC to deliver on the EOSC vision.

It serves as the main governance body for EOSC, coordinating efforts among its over 200 members (research institutions, infrastructure providers, and national representatives).

Objective(s)

To unify Europe's fragmented research data infrastructures and accelerate open science through a federated cloud for research data.

Public access URL

https://eosc.eu/

All tags

• International Co-operation
• European Union
• 2020
• Academic cooperation
• Established researchers
• Higher education institutes
• Public research institutes
• Research support staff
• Private R&D
• Academic societies academics
• Civil society
• Firms
• National government
• Regulatory oversight and ethical advice bodies
• International fora and consensus bodies

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