Highlights from the EOSC Beyond Workshop in Krakow

The historic city of Krakow became a nexus of innovation and collaboration as it hosted a pivotal three-day workshop dedicated to advancing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). From 10 to 12 June 2024, key stakeholders from across the continent gathered to participate in this event, which was delivered under the Work Package 15 (WP15) of the EOSC Beyond project. Led by ACC Cyfronet AGH and coordinated by the EGI Foundation, this workshop marked a significant milestone in the quest to enhance and expand the capabilities of the EOSC, fostering a unified vision for the future of Open Science in Europe.

Wrap-up

The workshop was part of the EOSC Beyond project, in which OpenAIRE is leading WP3/4, focusing on Innovation Management, Exploitation, Sustainability, and Support, and WP13/14, which is dedicated to developing the EOSC Execution Framework, including Composability and Deployment. The overall objective of EOSC Beyond is to advance Open Science and foster innovation in research within the framework of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). This is achieved by providing new EOSC Core capabilities that enable scientific applications to discover, compose, and access a multitude of Open Science resources, offering them as integrated capabilities to researchers. EOSC Beyond promotes a new concept of EOSC as a federated and integrated network of Nodes operating at various levels national, regional, international, and thematic tailored to meet the specific scientific missions of their stakeholders.

Workshop Focus and Goals

The EOSC Beyond WP15 is driving the future of open science in Europe by gathering insights from pilot EOSC Nodes, creating service integration plans, and promoting collaborative design activities. This workshop marked a major milestone, uniting technical experts to develop solutions that will enhance the European Open Science Cloud's capabilities, paving the way for a more interconnected and innovative research environment.

The workshop highlights included three intensive days of collaboration and planning. On Day 1, participants focused on understanding EOSC Pilot Nodes, exploring technical aspects, node typology, key stakeholders, and potential services. This resulted in a universal technical template for a Minimum Viable Node, which each use case adapted to its needs. One participant noted that this alignment was crucial for understanding EOSC Pilot Nodes. Day 2 involved classifying and specifying pilot nodes and data spaces, integrating them with Core and Horizontal services of the EU Node, and examining potential scaling scenarios with e-Infrastructure nodes like EGI, culminating in well-defined use cases, an integration matrix, and a preliminary integration roadmap. Day 3 centered on detailing use cases and implementation plans, focusing on the integrations and dependencies between EOSC Pilot Nodes, to outline a federation network for EOSC Beyond pilots and identify specific requirements for EOSC Core services such as AAI, PID Service, Resource Catalogue, Marketplace, Order Management, Monitoring, Accounting, Helpdesk, Integration Suite, and Execution Framework.

Key Takeaways for OpenAIRE from the EOSC Beyond Workshop

As a key player in the EOSC Beyond project, OpenAIRE is instrumental in promoting and training on EOSC Core services. My involvement in Task 3.2 focuses on the promotion and training of the EOSC Core services, new services, functionalities, and tools offered. This role entails proactively engaging with lead users, supporting user communities, and coordinating feedback loops to enhance WP15 activities.

Participation in the workshop was incredibly valuable for OpenAIRE and for me personally. It provided deep insights into the needs of individual pilot communities, their understanding of what constitutes a node, and their ideas for collaboration within the EOSC Federation through their thematic, national, or regional nodes or data spaces. This interaction was crucial for showcasing the value of EOSC Core services and collecting constructive suggestions to benefit multiple work packages, including WP10, WP11, WP13, and WP15.