Italy at the forefront for the 'European Open Science Cloud', on 29 July in Brussels for the creation of the EOSC Association
On the 29 July in Brussels the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) Association, an international non-profit association (AISBL) was created for the development and the coordination of the 'European Open Science Cloud'.
The EOSC is an initiative wanted by the European Commission to integrate European research infrastructures and will facilitate access to large amounts of scientific data and advanced services for millions of scholars and professionals in the scientific and technological field.
The founding act of the EOSC Association was signed by the Italian ICDI (Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure) gathering research and digital infrastructures and Italian public research institutions, represented by GARR; the CSIC with a similar national representation role of scientific data activities for Spain; and by two European organisations: CESAER and the GÉANT network.
"This is an important recognition of the work done by Italy for the close connection between research and digital infrastructures for the competitiveness of European research", underlined Giorgio Rossi, professor of physics of matter at the State University of Milan and representative for Italy in the EOSC Governing Board.
One of the objectives of the Association is to bring together the main actors involved in the development of 'open science', connecting research infrastructures, funding bodies, service providers, representatives of research communities and intergovernmental organizations.
The implementation of EOSC will be achieved through a Strategic Partnership of Horizon Europe in which the European Commission and the EOSC Association AISBL will implement a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) to create the Internet of Data with coherent investments of national and EU resources.
"At this stage, the four founding members are committed to setting the criteria and modalities of membership, while already in September the first general assembly is scheduled to accept new members; then, by the end of the year, the board of directors will be formed and the president of the EOSC Association will be appointed", assures Federico Ruggieri, GARR Director, indicating the next steps of the EOSC Association.
"ICDI, through GARR, - explains the director Ruggieri - coordinates the Italian participation, which with its research centres has put in place cutting-edge experiences and infrastructures that, linked to the others, will allow Europe to reach a leadership role in the use of Big Data in the scientific field, in line with its potential in economic and knowledge aspects".
IN DEPTH
GARR
GARR is the ultra-broadband network dedicated to the Italian research and education community. Its main objective is to provide high-performance connectivity and to develop innovative services for the daily activities of researchers, professors and students as well as for international collaboration.
GARR network is designed and managed by Consortium GARR, a non-profit association founded under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, University and Research. The founding members are CNR, ENEA, INFN e CRUI Foundation, representing all Italian universities.
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