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Introducing the ‘Hellenic Open Science Initiative - HOSI’ and the role of OpenAIRE

14 Jul 2022

Inauguration: On 28th February 2022, the Hellenic Open Science Initiative - HOSI was established by 13 Greek leading research, technology and innovation organisations among which OpenAIRE proudly contributes.

The Hellenic Open Science Initiative - HOSI forms an Open Science partnership in Greece with the goal to implement Open Science policies in the country and support the national representation and contribution to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in a coordinated and participatory fashion.

HOSI activities are governed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between its members with the goal to:

Manage the country's National Representation in the EOSC Association, as well as in all its relevant bodies and actions. HOSI is the 'National Open Science Cloud Initiative' (NOSCI) according to the EOSC terminology.
Formulate the national strategy, along with initiatives and actions, for implementing Open Science in Greece by updating and specifying the 'National Plan for Open Science' which describes the core Open Science policy and implementation axes for Greece and is addressed to the political leadership, research performing organisations, as well as all the Research and Development (R&D) organisations in the country.

The MoU reflects the terms and operating procedures of HOSI and forms a collective achievement and product of intensive consultations of the national bottom up Open Science Task Force.

The path to HOSI

The HOSI ancestor, the Open Science Task Force, was set up in 2019 addressing the need for collaboration and coordination on Open Science as expressed during the Greek Open Science Symposium that was organised by ATHENA RC and supported by the OpenAIRE Greek NOAD. This group had a fruitful collaboration and in 2020 published their collective proposal for a National Plan for Open Science in Greece. It is worth noting that parts of this publication were transposed into the Digital Transformation Strategy 2020-2025 of the Ministry of Digital Governance.

The proposed Plan consists of a comprehensive set of policies and actions to foster the realisation of the Open Science ecosystem in Greece. It informs about latest developments at national and European levels, highlights the strengths and dynamic of Greek stakeholders in the Open Science field and suggests commitments in the following areas:

Open Access to Scientific Publications
Research Data Management and Sharing
Research Software Development and Management
Reinforcing the National Research Ecosystem
Open Science through National Research Infrastructures and Digital Services for Research
Integration or Alignment with the European Open Science and Innovation Ecosystem.

OpenAIRE Greek National Open Science Desk (NOAD) in HOSI

The contribution of the OpenAIRE Greek NOAD has been significant in many ways and at different levels for the past years. Both ATHENA RC and HEAL-Link (representing the Greek OpenAIRE NOADs) have worked towards raising awareness about Open Science and preparing the path to policy adoption, each one in its area of influence. Moreover, ATHENA RC has actively contributed to setting up and coordinating the Open Science Task Force with the Greek NOAD leading the organisation of the 1st Open Science Symposium and undertaking preparatory work for the Open Science Plan that eased common activities and interactions with other members.

The OpenAIRE Greek NOAD is part of the HOSI and will continue collaborating with other national stakeholders to implement key policies included in the National Open Science Plan. The following activities have already led to preliminary achievements:

Awareness raising and training: A series of monthly webinars organised by ATHENA RC have created a better understanding between national stakeholders and researchers who are becoming more familiar with Open Science practices and with the EOSC. That has been the starting point of a rapidly growing national Open Science community, providing a great platform for broadcasting news and seeking collaborations as well as a helpdesk for Open Science queries.
Institutional policies for Open Science: HEAL-Link has worked with ARC to produce a model Open Science policy template in Greek to be adopted by Universities. In 2019, HEAL-Link presented the proposal for OS institutional policies to the Hellenic Academic Rectors Synod and got confirmation to further proceed with policy adoption.
Interoperability of repositories: An OpenAIRE activity, which is now supported by the NI4OS-Europe project for the needs of onboarding repositories to EOSC. NOADs work with repository managers and the OpenAIRE technical team to apply the OpenAIRE guidelines supporting Open and FAIR practices of literature and data repositories.
EOSC realisation and uptake: Contribution to EOSC realisation from the very first project of EOSCpilot to the NI4OS-Europe regional project has been a learning curve for ATHENA RC especially concerning Open Science policies. Work performed for Work Package about Policies in EOSCpilot put in perspective policy streams and technical specifications resulting in a greater picture of Open Science in Europe and of the European Cloud Initiative particularities. Moreover, coordinating the work package of NI4OS-Europe on setting up national initiatives for Open Science in South East Europe and the Balkans raises the collective experience and expertise of HOSI for Greece.

Open Invitation to the Greek Research Community

The founding members of the HOSI address an open invitation to all stakeholders from the wider research and innovation ecosystem in Greece to join the initiative by co-signing the Memorandum. They also invite the country's scientific and research workforce to study the National Plan for Open Science and actively contribute in the design and planning of new policies and actions. At the same time, they call on the Ministry of Development and Investments, the Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of Digital Governance to contribute to this shared vision by becoming observers and/or active members of the HOSI.

HOSI and EOSC via NI4OS

The Hellenic Open Science Initiative - HOSI also assumes the role of the National Open Science Cloud Initiative (NOSCI), according to the NI4OS-Europe project.

"A NOSCI is envisaged as a coalition of national organisations that have a prominent role and interest in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The main aim of NOSCI will be the promotion of synergies at national level, and the optimisation/articulation of their participation to European and global challenges in this field of OSC, including the EOSC. National Initiatives are envisaged to play a prominent role in Member States and Associated Countries and facilitate EOSC governance."

Source: Eleni Toli, Elli Papadopoulou, Christos Liatas, Electra Sifakaki, Ilias Papastamatiou, & Ognjen Prnjat. (2020). NI4OS-Europe National OSC initiatives models. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4061801

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