Turning FAIR into Reality, an implementation and action plan for FAIR data, was launched today at
On 23 Nov 2018 the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) was launched at an event in Vienna as part of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The launch includes the publication of two reports: Prompting an EOSC in Practice, and the report of the Commission’s expert group on FAIR data, Turning FAIR into Reality.
Turning Fair into Reality provides a deep dive into the various elements of FAIR, as well as those elements required to realise FAIR. Chapters include as the relationship between FAIR and Open, the changes required in research culture, the technical ecosystem for FAIR, FAIR data stewardship skills building, metrics for FAIR assessment, and requirements for sustainably funding the FAIR ecosystem. Making 27 recommendations, the authors argue that the original principles of FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reuseable – should not be expanded, but a number of elements in the ecosystem need to be supported to enable FAIR, including certified trusted digital repositories. The report includes a clear, prioritised Action Plan to assist member states in developing their own implementation plans.
Written by the European Commission’s expert group on FAIR data, authors include DRI’s Director Natalie Harrower, as well as DRI Board member Sandra Collins, Director of the National Library of Ireland.
Pictured: FAIR data expert group member Dr. Natalie Harrower, Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland, and group Chair Dr. Simon Hodson, Executive Director of CO-DATA at the report launch in Vienna 23 Nov 2018
The Vienna Declaration on the European Open Science Cloud was also published at the EOSC Launch. Text below:
The Vienna Declaration on the European Open Science Cloud
Vienna, 23 November 2018
We, Ministers, delegates and other participants attending the launch event of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC):
- Recall the challenges of data driven research in pursuing excellent science as stated in the “EOSC Declaration” signed in Brussels on 10 July 2017.
- Reaffirm the potential of the European Open Science Cloud to transform the research landscape in Europe. Confirm that the vision of the European Open Science Cloud is that of a research data commons, inclusive of all disciplines and Member States, sustainable in the long-term.
- Recognise that the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud is a process, not a project, by its nature iterative and based on constant learning and mutual alignment. Highlight the need for continuous dialogue to build trust and consensus among scientists, researchers, funders, users and service providers.
- Highlight that Europe is well placed to take a global leadership position in the development and application of cloud services for Science. Reaffirm that the European Open Science Cloud will be both European and open to the world, reaching out over time to relevant global research partners.
- Recall that the Council – in its conclusions of 29 May 2018 – welcomed the implementation roadmap and the federated model for the European Open Science Cloud. It invited the Commission and all Member States to set up a common governance framework that ensures participation of stakeholders from the research community based on principles of transparency, openness and inclusiveness and an effective involvement of all Member States.
- Note that the 2018 EOSC Summit (held on 11 June 2018) called for acceleration towards making the European Open Science Cloud a reality, hinting at the need to further strengthen the ongoing dialogue across institutions and with stakeholders, for a new governance framework to be launched in Vienna, on 23 November 2018.
We therefore:
- Resolve to harness the many ongoing and planned activities at EU and Member States level to cooperate in establishing an inclusive partnership with a view to developing the European Open Science Cloud as a federated infrastructure that can enhance value-based, open, trusted, user-centric digital services across borders within the Digital Single Market (DSM).
- Invite all Member States, as well as public and private stakeholders in Europe, to support actively this joint effort and the new European Open Science Cloud governance structure for a successful implementation of the initiative.
- Call for the European Open Science Cloud to provide all researchers in Europe with seamless access to an open-by-default, efficient and cross-disciplinary environment for storing, accessing, reusing and processing research data supported by FAIR data principles.
- Commit to support service provision for the European Open Science Cloud by helping connecting relevant national and disciplinary nodes to the pan-European level.
- Reaffirm the potential of the European Open Science Cloud to enable first-class data-driven science and to stimulate new business models benefiting our society and the economy. Recognise that such services will create opportunities for both public and private sectors, notably by intensifying reuse of public sector information while preserving data integrity, and ensuring access, transparency within and across borders.
We therefore declare to work together towards realising the potential of the European Open Science Cloud for the benefit of citizens, society and the economy.
The Vienna EOSC Declaration was conceived by Paolo Budroni, University of Vienna and Stefan Hanslik, Austrian Federal Ministry for Education in close cooperation with the European Commission. Vienna, 2018
