Through EOSC Focus, Belnet is deepening its commitment to Open Science and making this more concrete. EOSC stands for European Open Science Cloud. Belnet, through the EOSC Focus project, is an integral part of the EOSC ecosystem and is therefore best placed to inform Belgian knowledge institutions about European developments within EOSC.
Along with its R&E Community Belnet can make its mark on developments within EOSC, optimising its service offering in line with the needs of and in co-creation with Belgian researchers and research groups.
More specifically, Belnet is providing support to the EOSC Association in these three areas to accelerate the digital transformation to Open Science in Europe:
- Stakeholder Management
- Strategic research and innovation agenda
- Communications and event organisation
The first general meeting of the EOSC Focus project was held in Barcelona from 16 to 18 April. The meeting assessed the substantial progress made in the project’s first 10 months, and used the gathering to further align EOSC Partnership activities across the broader EOSC ecosystem
In addition to Belnet, representatives from the 8 other consortium partners were present. A total of 30 people with as many as 17 different nationalities attended the general meeting.
Some of the notable results from the project highlighted at the meeting include converting the Partnership’s collaboration among Horizon Europe INFRAEOSC projects from theory into practice, delivering against the EOSC-A Monitoring & Reporting requirements, and the establishment of regional hubs to better understand the national and regional structures where EOSC has a place.
Moreover, some important steps were also taken in reworking the strategic research and innovation agenda, such that a new version of the multi-annual roadmap – the European Commission's guide to setting priorities within EOSC – can be launched by the summer. For this purpose, the 13 Task Forces and more than 200 EOSC Association members and observers were surveyed. A final important achievement is the dozens of national-level events, in which more than 1,600 stakeholders across Europe have participated.
The biggest event on the schedule this year, however, is the EOSC Symposium. This is the annual event that a great many stakeholders from ministries, policy-makers, research organisations, infrastructures and communities from all over Europe and beyond attend. It reflects upon the main achievements and strategic challenges of the EOSC and identifies priorities and concrete actions at European, national and institutional levels to accelerate the implementation of the EOSC. Block off 20 through 22 September this year in your calendar in advance, as the Symposium will be taking place in Madrid in the context of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. The event will be organised completely hybrid.