The European Open Science Cloud in a national context: EOSC Finnish Forum launched
With the recent establishment of the EOSC Association (July 2020) and the upcoming signature of the EOSC European Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (early 2021), the national stakeholders need to understand the full EOSC picture and have the opportunity to influence the research priorities in the area by bringing back into the country the most suitable opportunities and services coming out from the EOSC to foster innovation and boost the societal impact of high-quality research.
For these reasons, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, Academy of Finland, the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, and CSC – IT Center for Science established EOSC Finnish Forum (EOSC-FF) in January 2021.
“EOSC-FF will be the platform that will allow the Finnish stakeholders to discuss and exchange information on the latest EOSC developments and assess how the EOSC will impact the Finnish RDI actors and other national initiatives,” says Sara Garavelli, EOSC Program Manager at CSC–IT Center for Science and EOSC-FF Coordinator. “The Forum will also be an excellent instrument to represent the collective interests of Finland into the EOSC and to discuss potential future EOSC-related collaborations and opportunities at the national level.”
EOSC-FF welcomes all the Finnish individuals interested in the EOSC and committed to supporting the mission and vision of the Declaration for Open Science and Research recently released by the National Steering Group on Open Science and Research.
Why a national EOSC Forum?
” EOSC is one of the new partnerships supported by the European Commission and the Member States. It aims to realise a “web of fair data and related services” and provides a virtual environment with access to various services supporting open science and the management of the research data lifecycle, from sharing to processing and preserving data,” remarks Karel Luyben, President of the EOSC Association at the launch event webinar.
A high number of Finnish stakeholders, including research performing organisations, research funding organisations, service providers but also industry players, are heavily involved in the development of the EOSC at different levels: by participating in the EOSC European Partnership, by providing services, by being active in EOSC-related projects (e.g., EOSC-Nordic, EOSC-Hub, EOSCsecretariat.eu, EOSC-Life, EOSC Future, etc.) or simply by using the EOSC services.
A network for EOSC newcomers, beginners, and experts
The EOSC-FF is not a decision-making body but a network for discussion, information sharing, and provision of coordinated feedback to the EOSC governance; therefore, it is open to all the individuals interested in the EOSC independently from their level of knowledge about the EOSC. Different activities will be organized at different levels:
- Regular updates on the latest developments of the EOSC at the EU & national level & on EOSC-related funding opportunities (regular communications via blogs/newsletters, etc.)
- Support in understanding the impact and benefits of EOSC for organisations and activities and initiatives going on at the national level (ad-hoc webinars, meet-the-experts sessions, etc.)
- Active participation in EOSC co-design opportunities (EOSC consultations, more direct access to the EOSC Governance, etc.)
- Exploration of new potential collaborations at the national level
The EOSC-FF and the EOSC Association
The individual participation in the EOSC-FF Forum does not substitute the Finnish organizations’ participation in the EOSC Association. The EOSC-FF is an additional platform that supports and complements the EOSC Association’s work and that does not require any participatory fee.
A Forum open to business players
To realise its full potential, the EOSC will be widened beyond the European research community to the broader public sector and the private sector as per EOSC Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda. This is why individuals from the business sector are very welcome to join the EOSC-FF to follow the EOSC developments from the early stage closely.
Up next
EOSC-FF welcomes you to the webinar, “EOSC & RDA: Synergies and Complementarities on the 25 of March, at 11.00-13:30 EET. The webinar discusses how RDA supports the EOSC establishment and how Finland can play a role there.
To see the programme and register for the webinar, please visit the Open Science National Coordination web pages.
Follow EOSC-FF on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EOSC_FF
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eosc-ff
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQzF-v-EXr1eyiilUKfWAgQ