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Advance

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The OpenAIRE-Advance management structure is composed of two areas, decision-making and operations, aided by an advisory board and aligned with the pending OpenAIRE Legal Entity (LE) governance structure reflected in the project management structure.


Advance Management structure
Figure 1. OpenAIRE-Advance Management Structure

 

1.1.General Assembly

The General Assembly is the ultimate decision making body of OpenAIRE-Advance. It is designed to provide high level supervision of the project activities and to promote and assess the scientific quality of the project. The General Assembly is consisted of one representative of each partner.

The Coordinator (UOA) shall chair all meetings of the General Assembly. The Coordinator is the legal entity acting as the intermediary between the Parties and the European Commission.

The following decisions shall be taken by the GA:

  • Proposals for changes to the Description of Work to be agreed by the European Commission
  • Changes to the Consortium Plan (including the Consortium Budget)
  • Entry of a new Partner to the Consortium and approval of the settlement on the conditions of accession of such a new Party
  • Withdrawal of a Party from the Consortium and the approval of the settlement on the conditions of the withdrawal
  • Declaration of a Party to be a Defaulting Party
  • Proposal to the European Commission for a change of the Coordinator, to submit of all or part of the Project, to terminate the Grant Agreement.

1.2 Project Steering Committee

Due to the size of the project it will be inefficient for the GA to be responsible for everyday management. Based on the experience gained from the management of past OpenAIRE projects, flexibility and effectiveness, risk assessment and immediate response is achieved through the establishment of a Project Steering Committee (PSC). The project coordinator will chair the project steering committee, and will be assisted by the Scientific and Technical coordinators (e.g. agenda). The 11 members of the PSC will comprise the technical and the networking managers and one representative from the main networking and technical partners. NOADs will be represented by their regional coordinators. The PSC is designed to provide high level supervision of the project activities and to promote and assess the scientific quality of the project. More specifically, its role is to:
  • Define means to implement all major technical decisions
  • Provide recommendations for improving the project’s efficiency
  • Define funding policies
  • Identify the need for significant changes in the project work-plan and oversee their implementation and suggest to the GA for approval
  • Review and/or amend the cost of time schedule under the EC grant agreement
  • Review and/or amend the termination of the EC grant agreement and suggest to the GA for approval
  • Decide on the termination of a partner according to the consortium agreement and suggest to the GA for approval
  • Propose and approve resolutions of critical issues and conflicts and suggest to the GA for approval
  • Communicate with the Commission (e.g. dissemination of guidelines)
  • Receive deliverables and confer on these with the Scientific and the Technical Coordinator about quality assurance (e.g. internal review)
  • Approve strategic documents and liaisons as these are defined or recommended by the Executive Office (EO)

Specifically, due to the envisioned establishment of an OpenAIRE legal entity within the first year of the project, the PSC will dedicate time to discuss and approve the methodology and recommendations from the corresponding dedicated task designed to achieve this goal.

Each member will have one vote, and a relative majority system of voting will be employed.  Further details will be defined in the consortium agreement. The PSC will meet at agreed intervals. The Coordinator (UOA) will be responsible for calling the meetings. Extensive use of information technology (video and audio conferencing, dedicated web page and mailing lists) will also be made available. For a smooth operation, regardless of problems, the PSC will have a phone/video conference bi-monthly in order to review the situation. All issues that cannot be resolved by the PSC shall be submitted by the Coordinator to the General Assembly.

 Table 1. OpenAIRE-Advance PSC Members

#

  Partner

  Contact (See Appendix)

1   UOA   Mike Chatzopoulos
2   ARC   Yannis Ioannidis
3   CNR   Donatella Castelli
4   UGOE   Wolfram Horstmann
5   CERN   Tim Smith
6   UNIBI   Dirk Pieper
7   UMINHO   Eloy Rodrigues
8   UGENT   Inge Van Nieuwerburgh
9   eIFL   Iryna Kuchma
10   CERES   Nina Karlstrom
11   ICM   Wojtek Sylwestrzak
 

1.3 Ethics Advisor

The Ethics Advisor is an individual ethics expert giving advice to the consortium to monitor the ethical concerns of the project and to advice and guide the Consortium during its lifetime. OpenAIRE-Advance will issue an open call at M1 for an independent expert. UOA allocated 10K as subcontracting for this purpose. The PSC will decide on the final selection. The individual selected must accept the responsibility by M5, at which time the controlling procedures will be identified and elaborated upon. Ethics issues will be reported in the annual progress reports.

1.4 Executive Office

This is composed of three executive officers who oversee and guide the daily management of all the project’s activities. They interact with the WP leaders and the support office and report directly to the PSC. The executive team has three members:
  • Managing director overseeing all activities and coordinates between the networking and technical efforts (Natalia Manola, UOA).
  • Networking manager who has the responsibility for managing the NOADs and external networking activities (Najla Rettberg and Mike Mertens, UGOE)
  • Technical director who oversees the technological direction of the project and supervises all the technical work associated with each work package (Paolo Manghi, CNR).
Apart from daily interactions, the Executive Office (EO) holds a video conference once a month to go over the plans and activities. The office will issue a bi-monthly report covering all high level activities (in the format of internal newsletter in WP2).

1.5 Support Office

This is composed of a number of work areas that support all the project’s activities and facilitates the work of the Executive Office.
  • The Regional Coordinators (RCs) are partners who oversee the activities of the NOADs at the regional level (geographical or thematic). The have a monthly phone/video conference with the NOADs in their regions and go over specific plans and reports, coordinate/align the efforts between partners, assess plans and achievements and support or re-route them where necessary. The regional management structure was defined in previous projects and continues in OpenAIRE-Advance:
 
Table 2. Region Coordinators Contact Persons

Region   RC Partner   RC Contact (See Appendix)
North   CRIStin   Jens Aasheim
South   UMINHO   Eloy Rodrigues and Pedro Principe
West   UGENT   Inge Van Nieuwerburgh
East   EIFL   Gwen Frank and Iryna Kuchma

URL: https://www.openaire.eu/regional-offices

Three additional thematic RCs:

  • Research Data Management, DANS: Marjan Grootveld
  • Policies, EKT: Marina Angelaki
  • Legal Guidelines, UGLASGOW: Thomas Margoni
The regional officers report to the Networking Manager (UGOE).

  • The Helpdesk team supports the operational activity of the helpdesk (ticketing system, FAQ, guides and toolkits). It is comprised of all NOADs and is led by UMINHO. The Support Officer is Pedro Principe.
  • The Training team is responsible for coordinating and facilitating all training activities within the project. It is led by EIFL. The Training Officer is Iryna Kuchma.
  • The Quality Control team is comprised of people from the technical teams (UNIBI, CNR, ICM, CERN, UBONN, ARC) who are responsible for overseeing all aspects related to quality in the technical sense: data curation and quality of service provision. The team is led by CNR and reports to the Technical Director, Paolo Manghi.
  • The Communication Officer (CO) is responsible for supporting the Executive Office in all its dissemination/communication activities. The CO oversees the production of dissemination material, deals with communication channels (social network, newsletter, press releases) and maintains a list of liaison contacts for follow ups. This CO will work jointly be appointed by UGOE and UOA. The person assigned with this role is Kalliroi Mavrantoni.
  • The Administrative team supports the project in all its administrative and financial activities in relation to the EC and third parties. The team is led by UOA. The person assigned with this role is Katerina Papadaki.

1.6 Infrastructure Policy Board (IPB)

The IPB is in charge to revise and adapt the infrastructure data, service and usage policies as described in WP9.5 at least once year, and is responsible for drafting and maintaining the terms of use/access policies of the OpenAIRE services as these are described in the OpenAIRE service catalogue (T8.2) Updates will be communicated to the PSC for approval, before mandatory public release and implementation. The IPB includes representatives from ARC Natalia Manola and Prodromos Tsiavos, from UGOE Najla, from UMINHO Pedro, EIFL Iryna Kuchma, and is led by CNR, the role assigned to Paolo Manghi.

 

1.7 User Group

This group will include 3-4 researchers in corresponding disciplines, and will coordinate their continuous feedback and engagement over the project period via usability assessment and interviews. The user group will be facilitated by UOA within WP2.3. The person to coordinate this user group is Vivi Katifori.

1.8 Advisory Board

The Advisory Board will support and advise the project from a stakeholder’s perspective (data centers and federations, CRIS, research funders, research communities, research organisations and institutions, publishers etc.) and will be invited to review the project’s research results. Moreover, the Advisory Board will support OpenAIRE in defining a conceptual framework for partnerships and sustainability planning.

The current Advisory Board has 13 members. The new Advisory Board will have up to 7 members, will be appointed by the Project Steering Committee, will be chaired by UGOE and will physically meet two times during the duration of the project (20.000 € of direct costs have been allocated to UGOE for this purpose).

1.9 Work Package Leader

Each work package has a Work Package Leader. Work Package Leaders will be responsible for the coordination of the activities carried out by their work package. For any problems that may occur they will have to report to the executive office. The Work Package Leaders are responsible for the deliverables of the work package and will be appointed at the project Kick-off meeting.

Table 3. Work Package Leaders

WP   WP Lead Partner   WP Leader Contact (See Appendix)
WP1   UOA   Natalia Manola
WP2   UGOE   Najla Rettberg
WP3   UGOE   Najla Rettberg
WP4   UMINHO   Pedro Principe
WP5   COAR   Kathleen Shearer
WP6   UNIBI   Jochen Schrirrwagen
WP7   CNR   Alessia Bardi
WP8   ARC   Natalia Manola
WP9   ICM   Wojtek Sylwestrzak
WP10   CNR   Claudio Atzori
 

1.10 Project manager

Each partner will appoint a project manager (PM).  All official communications will be addressed to him or her. He or she will report to the Executive Office to ensure the alignment between the organization’s objectives and the direction of the project. He/she will also be responsible for ensuring that the organization provides resources to the level specified in the project. In addition, he/she will provide the coordinator with all the necessary information regarding his/her organization for the preparation of the management reports and they will be appointed at the project Kick-off meeting.

Table 4. List of Project Managers


WP   Partner   Project Manager (See Appendix)
1   UOA   Eleni Koulocheri
2   UGOE   Najla Rettberg
3   CNR   Paolo Manghi
4   UNIWARSAW   Marek Horst
5   CERN   Tim Smith
6   ARC   Natalia Manola
7   UNIBI   Jochen Schirrwagen
8   UMINHO   Pedro Principe
9   EIFL   Iryna Kuchma
10   UGENT   Emilie Hermans
11   CERES   Jens Aasheim
12   COAR   Kathleen Shearer
13   CLARA   Alberto Cabezas
14   KNAW   Elly Dijk
15   UEDIN   Kevin Ashley
16   UG   Thomas Margoni
17   EA   Sofoklis Sotiriou
18   UBO   Christoph Lange
19   EKT   Marina Angelaki
20   OLH   Martin Eve
21   DARIAH-ERIC   Mike Mertens
22   UNIVIE   Gerda McNeill
23   IMI BAS   Peter Stanchev
24   RBI   Jadranka Stojanovski
25   UCY   Sylvia Koukounidou
26   SDU   Anne Thorst Melbye
27   UTARTU   Annelli Sepp
28   HY   Pauli Assinen
29   COUPERIN   Andre Dazy
30   UKON   Anja Oberlander
31   DE   Gyongyi Karacsony
32   LUH   Anna Sigríour Guonadóttir
33   TCD   Ashling Hayes
34   BIU   Simcha Meir
35   LU   Gita Rozenberga
36   KTU   Gintare Tautkeviciene
37   ULUX   Jonathan England
38   UOM   Kevin Ellul
39   TUDelft   Just de Leeuwe
40   UEFISCDI   Alina Irimia
41   UB   Biljana Kosanovic
42   CVTISR   Lubomir Bilsky
43   UL   Mojca Kotar
44   FECYT   Pilar Rico
45   KBSE   Beate Eellend
46   UZH   Christian Fuhrer
47   IIT   Gultekin Gurdal
48   JISC   Frank Manista
 

1.11 Service Manager

A Service Manager (SM) will be a specific person responsible for a service as defined in WP10 and the service catalogue. A SM will be responsible for delivering and deploying a robust service and will interact with the product manager for optimal fit of a service within a product. SM roles have been assigned at the kick-off meeting, as below:

Table 5. OpenAIRE-Advance Service Managers

Services   Partner   Responsible (See Appendix)
Service Aggregation   CNR   Claudio Atzori
Inference   ICM   Marek Horst
Text Mining   UOA   Harry Dimitropoulos
Validator   ARC   Antolis Lempesis
Usage Statistics   UNIBIE   Jochen Schirrwagen
OA Broker   CNR   Paolo Manghi
Search   UOA   Katerina Iatropoulou
Deduplication   CNR   Claudio Atzori
Anonymization   ARC   Manolis Terrovitis
Linked Open Data   UBONN   Sahar Vahdati
Helpdesk   UMINHO   Pedro Principe
Statistics Database and services   ARC   Antolis Lempesis
Portal   UOA   Katerina Iatropoulou
 

1.12 Product Manager

A Product Manager (PM) will be a specific person who will communicate the product vision (WP8) from the executive level to development and implementation teams. The PMs will ensure proper requirement elicitation (e.g., functionality, legal, operational), perform the market/community analysis and come up with desired and achievable KPIs, drive the product engineering in collaboration with the technical teams, be responsible for the product documentation, devise target dissemination campaigns in collaboration with the support office (communication and helpdesk). PM roles will be assigned at the kick-off meeting. ARC and Angelica Vos will be the Product Manager and responsible for the funder dashboard, Argiro Kokogiannaki for project dashboard, Alessia Bardi for research community dashboard, Pedro Principe for content provider dashboard, Ilaria Fava for institution dashboard, Alessia Baardi for research initiative dashboard, Sandro La Bruzzo for Scholexplorer, and George Papastefanatos for Open Science Observatory.

2  Transition to the OpenAIRE Legal Entity (LE)

The existing governance structure reflects OpenAIRE’s current organisational setting, i.e. its status as an EU funded project. Since OpenAIRE is heading towards the direction of a Legal Entity (LE) envisioned to form a specific layer in the stack of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), it is necessary to take into account the transition from the current to the future governance structure. The current design of the OpenAIRE LE reflects the existing OpenAIRE project governance structure, but it seeks to transform the transient nature of existing bodies to a more permanent one. For instance, the previous OpenAIRE2020 Strategic Guidance Board (SGB) and PSC are merged and the different officers are merged into a permanent Executive Office. In addition, in the OpenAIRE LE, there is a clearer and more fixed classification of the different membership types and a minimum set of requirements with regards to the level of services provided to the users of the OpenAIRE services.

In addition, since the final objective of the OpenAIRE LE is to become an ERIC, an additional organisational layer is suggested, that is, establishing an Open Science Partnership (OSP) network that would be focused mostly on involving policy makers and securing a minimum set of policy commitments at the national level implementing and interacting with different aspects of the EU open science policies. The OSP structure needs to interact with the OpenAIRE-Advance project, particularly in relation to the governance functions referring to policy, so as to pave the way both for the original OpenAIRE LE and the OpenAIRE ERIC.

LE structureFigure 2. OpenAIRE LE governance bodies aligned with current OpenaIRE-Advance Management Structure

 

OpenAIRE Governance Bodies aligned with current OpenAIRE-Advance Management Structure


3  Quality Management

The quality control policy, which is presented in this deliverable, describes the project management and quality assurance procedures. This plan defines a set of rules for the organization of day-to-day cooperative work, including reporting mechanisms; the organization of meetings; and the preparation of documentation for submission to the EC. It will establish short period internal reporting procedures as a proactive measure to avoid potential problems or delays in the future. The progress of project work will be monitored against the objectives and the milestones set in the technical Annex according to the quality plan.

Quality management is organized through the administrative management activities assuming responsibility for communication with the Commission, notably the deliverables, but is collaboratively performed by all those engaged in management functions: deliverables will be submitted to the Coordinator, who will confer with the Networking Manager and Technical Director (also Quality Control leader) about reviewing the deliverable before handing it over to the Commission.  The responsibilities for reviewing depend on the nature of the deliverable (e.g. a technical deliverable will be reviewed by the Technical Director).

On the administrative side, the quality management covers the reporting mechanisms, the organization of meetings and the preparation of documentation for submission to the Commission. It establishes procedures for identifying, estimating, treating and monitoring risks, to prevent any problems or delays in the project. The progress of the project work is monitored against the objectives and the milestones set in the proposal according to the Quality Plan.

On the technical side, it covers the definition of procedures for assuring the quality both of the “production process” and of the “products”. The quality management defines how standards, procedures and metrics will be defined, applied and evaluated within the project comprising:

  • QA procedures for documents and software production, check and test
  • QA procedures for services check and test
  • Risk Management. Document Management and Configuration Management
  • Key Performance Indicators for policy, implementation, products and services

On the networking side it establishes and follow up the quality assurance processes for the efficient operation of the NOAD network structure, from the regional coordinators to the NOADs themselves. It ensures that NOADs establish plans and follow or re-align accordingly, and that through periodic communication the management conveys the project’s strategic directions in a clear way.

 

In order to support the cooperation among the members of a widely distributed consortium such as OpenAIRE-Advance, a comprehensive and complementary set of tools is offered to project members. These tools cover the needs from mail and synchronous communication to issue reporting and tracking.

1. User Identification- LDAP

ldap logoThe LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is applied in all OpenAIRE tools and ensures security and user identification when logging to project tools.

For registration or support: Claudio Atzori (claudio.atzori@isti.cnr.it) or Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)

 

2.  Ticketing System - Redmine

RedmineThe Redmine Ticketing System has been effectively used in OpenAIRE. Now, using the same setup, the “OpenAIRE-Advance” subproject has been created under “OpenAIRE” Project.

For new Redmine accounts or support: Claudio Atzori (claudio.atzori@isti.cnr.it) or Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)

URL: https://issue.openaire.research-infrastructures.eu/projects/advance


3  Synchronous Communication - Gotomeeting

gotomeetingGotomeeting is a powerful and easy to use online system for synchronous communication and collaboration. A registration to Gotomeeting for OpenAIRE is already valid and will be used for tech/net/WP Leader meetings. The credentials have been shared with OpenAIRE-Advance WP Leaders who are advised to book slots by themselves and share the meeting details accordingly.

Internal Rules for Gotomeeting use

Some basic rules have been agreed so as to ensure that Gotomeeting is used properly.

gotomeeting screenshot 

OpenAIRE Gotomeeting “Schedule a meeting” Screenshot

1.     When someone books a conference, he/she must state WP or Activity and the name of the organizer, in the “Enter meeting name” field, see Fig. 3.

2.     Nobody should change password.

3.     In case that somebody realizes abuse in the use of the service, this should be reported to Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)

4.     It is strongly recommended that users avoid connecting to GoToMeeting via phone (OpenVoice service) since there is a chance that the project will be charged. In such a case, all costs will be retrieved from the corresponding WP other costs. 

5.     Also, ARC/UOA are paying these (unforeseen) costs from the management budget and it is necessary to ensure that similar costs are shared amongst the core management partners in the future.
For access requests or technical issues: Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)
Link: https://global.gotomeeting.com


4.  File sharing system – Box

BoxSame as for Redmine, in OpenAIRE’s file sharing system, a new folder “OpenAIRE_Advance” has been created. Using Box, useful project content is stored in the Cloud and it is easily accessible. Users can find project templates, contractual documents, dissemination material, logos, WP related stuff, etc. Partners are invited to use it so as to upload/download all sharable content, e.g. review-ready deliverables, internal reports etc, with respect to folders structure.

It is vital for the project to ensure transparency during the project lifetime, hence Box is one of the most crucial tools towards it.

For access or questions: Pedro Principe, pedroprincipe@sdum.uminho.pt.

Link:  http://box.openaire.eu/  > OpenAIRE_Advance


5.  Communication Threads - Slack

slack logoSlack is used for informal communication among the members of various working groups of the project. Within the Openaire instance of Slack, multiple threads, dedicated to a specified topic of the project can be created, keeping thus, an archive of discussions.

For new accounts, invitations or support: Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.uoa.gr)

URL: https://openairegroup.slack.com


6.  Collaborative Writing – Google Docs

Logo of Google DriveAiming to an efficient and effective teamwork among the partners, it is important to set up collaborating writing environment. For that purpose, a Google Drive folder has been set up and will be accessible by WP Leaders and Regional Coordinators. This folder can also be used for uploading stuff that should be internally visible to the partners, if necessary.

For access or support: Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)

URL: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CtIO7huXyf0-o-uKmLUxOnTMA8T5Jo6_?usp=sharing



7.  Presentation Enhancement Tool – Mentimeter

mentimeterMentimeter is a powerful tool for the enhancement of presentations, It ensures interactive presentations offering the audience the opportunity to participate in real-time activities.

For access: Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.UOA.gr)

URL: https://www.mentimeter.com



8.  Ticketing System for Management - Asana

asana logoAsana is a tracking easy to use system that has been selected for the needs of the management team.

For new accounts, access or support: Najla Rettberg (najla.rettberg@sub.uni-goettingen.de)

URL: https://app.asana.com/0/dashboard/19802525418277

 

OFFICIAL DINNER (17.1.18)*

Yacht Club of Greece - Located in Pireaus, a historical place for sea lovers. Great view, elegant environment and stunning tastes.

*Please register through the google sheet that is circulated among the project partners. If it hasn't reached you, please contact Mrs. Eleni Koulocheri (ekoulocheri@di.uoa.gr)

 

Hotels nearby the Venue

Coral Hotel - 2,5 km distance from the Conference Venue (Stavros Niarxos Foundation Cultural Center), 35 km from the Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”

Poseidon Athens Hotel - 3,5 km distance from the Conference Venue (Stavros Niarxos Foundation Cultural Center), 32 km from the Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”

ACROPOLIS AREA

Heridion Hotel - In the heart of the city, a heartbeat away from Athens iconic landmark, the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum.

Royal Olympic Hotel - The hotel is located just in front of the famous Temple of Zeus and National Garden. We are underneath the Acropolis and only 2 minutes walk to the new Acropolis Museum.

Philippos Hotel - Situated in the heart of the most elegant and residential blocks of Athens on the doorstep of the new Acropolis Museum.

 

 

WHEN?

January 17-19, 2018.

WHERE?

OpenAIRE-Advnace Kick Off meeting will take place at the new premises of the National Library of Greece (NLG) at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), the new landmark arts, education and entertainment complex of Athens. 

How to get there? 
Find out how to reach the OpenAIRE-Advance Kick Off Venue, National Library of Greece at SNFCC  (by public transport, car, bicycle, etc.)
 
Conference Venue Map
Find out here where the National Library of Greece building is located inside the SFNCC premises.