The final report of the Task Force on Financial Sustainability of EOSC has been published, marking the culmination of the work of the Task Force over more than two years of work together.
2024 is a key year for decisions on the future legal form and governance of EOSC. The concept of EOSC Nodes is developing rapidly, and the EOSC EU Node is due to be operational by the end of the summer. The EOSC governance bodies are considering the future legal entity/ies and governance structures to be adopted for EOSC from 2027. In its final report, the Task Force draws conclusions and makes recommendations which provide input to the work of the governance bodies.
The Task Force identified several challenges related to the long-term financial sustainability of EOSC. Its final report describes these, defines eight key principles to address them, and makes recommendations for further work which should be conducted, alongside the progressing EOSC governance discussions. The Task Force also estimates the likely scale of the costs involved in addressing the EOSC "5 tasks" defined by the EC, and identifies requirements of the future EOSC legal entity related to the financial sustainability of EOSC
The Task Force featured experts at key organisations from across Europe, who dedicated a large amount of time and effort to producing the Task Force’s outputs between late 2021 and early 2024. EGI’s EOSC Liaison Manager Dale Robertson was co-chair of the Task Force (TF), collaborating with SIKT’s Jan Meijer.
Dale said "The Task Force members worked very productively together. The group was very focussed on delivering actionable outputs to contribute to realising EOSC. It was a real pleasure, and a privilege, to work with such knowledgeable and dedicated professionals. I hope we will see our conclusions reflected in EOSC’s governance and business model in future."
8 Key Principles for EOSC Financial Sustainability
These are the key principles for the financial sustainability of EOSC which the Task Force developed to address the main challenges, more details in the document.
- Joint funding by the EC and Member States/Associated Countries of the collective EOSC components is essential to ensure national engagement and strategic relevance.
- Long-term, stable political and financial commitment from the EC and Member States/Associated Countries is essential.
- EOSC is part of the rich ecosystem of RIs created by investment by MS/AC, and the EC, and should build on, complement and enhance, but not duplicate, it.
- The EOSC Exchange needs to provide straightforward access to the European research community’s services and platforms for data utilisation and analytics, to support the realisation of the full potential of research data.
- Federating data and services through EOSC involves additional costs for providers, which should be paid for primarily by Member States/Associated Countries.
- Coordination of EOSC strategy and funding between Member States and with the EC is required and should be assured as part of the EOSC governance.
- The sustainability of research services must be addressed for efficient use of investment.
- Inclusiveness: Whatever legal and governance model is adopted, the division of costs within its funding model should not act as a barrier for countries to participate.
EOSC Costs and Legal Entity Requirements
The report’s main observation relating to EOSC costs is that the costs of the operation, maintenance and development of the EOSC EU Node and the expansion of the EOSC Federation are modest in relation to the estimated cost of FAIRification, which is an order of magnitude more expensive. Requirements relating to financial sustainability which should be satisfied by the legal entity chosen for EOSC in future include the need for long-term sustainability; the presence of MS/AC as stakeholders making a long-term financial commitment; participation by different legal forms of research entities such as ERICs and European Intergovernmental Research Organisations; stakeholder influence over the EOSC work programme; and the potential for participation of private companies as users of EOSC. The Task Force also made recommendations about numerous areas of further work.
EOSC continues to evolve rapidly. The Financial Sustainability TF reflects the EOSC stakeholder community, bringing in their views and recommendations for achieving a fair, inclusive and sustainable EOSC which adds value for the research community. The Task Force hopes these conclusions can be taken on board as the consideration of the legal model and governance of EOSC reaches its conclusion and the definition of the EOSC nodes concept develops.
Related content
EOSC Focus supports the co-programmed EOSC Partnership in delivering its mission of establishing Open Science
The services and expertise of the EGI Federation are recognised as key assets for the
EGI, the European infrastructure for data-intensive computing, is pleased to announce its participation in the
