On 23 June, the European Commission and the EOSC Association signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the European Open Science Cloud platform. Find out why this step is seen as central to the realisation of the European Open Science vision.
Ensuring a common research data platform where information is searchable, accessible, interoperable and reusable is the ultimate goal of the EOSC - European Open Science Cloud.
In this way, highlights the EOSC association, created in 2020 to implement this platform, it will be possible to promote an "interdisciplinary and impactful science in the context of the digital age".
The objectives of the initiative are convergent with the vision of the European Commission for the implementation of an Open Science policy in the continent. As such, a memorandum of understanding was signed on June 23, in Brussels, enshrining a partnership between the association and the European Commission.
The document ensures that by 2030, there will be a coordinated approach by the European Commission and its member states in investments and initiatives regarding the EOSC ecosystem under the Horizon Europe framework.
The association highlights how this partnership reinforces the European Open Science policy, being able to generate "capital of trust in digitally enabled and more open research processes" whose added values concern not only scientists but also the whole society. "The EOSC offers an infrastructure that seeks to transform European Science", they highlight.
The agreement was signed by the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Marya Gabriel, who considers that the EOSC project will allow "researchers to find, create, share and re-use digital forms of knowledge", which will lead to "new leads and innovations" as well as "higher productivity and reproducibility".
The President, Karel Luyben, on the other hand, sees this agreement as "creating a path for the implementation of the EOSC" that will contribute to "a more efficient, reproducible and reliable science, more relevant to the needs of society, which in turn will be increasingly involved".
We recommend consulting the press release to find out more.
EOSC and Portugal
The EOSC is expected to have a profound impact on national research communities, as both national research data service providers and the institutions that use them to do Science will need to align with this European initiative.
In Portugal, the Foundation for Science and Technology, through its Unit FCCN, has been making efforts in this area. Since October 2020, FCT has been the organization mandated to represent Portugal's interests within the EOSC association, represented by national delegate João Mendes Moreira.
See also the work in the area of Digital Transformation in Research that FCCN is developing, with a view to reinforcing investment in the area of open science at national level, particularly in the management of research data.
