RI-SCALE: Getting Ready to Boost the Use of Research Infrastructure Data with Scalable AI Solutions

The EU-funded project, RI-SCALE, is set to commence on March 1, 2025, bringing together 29 partners across Europe to tackle challenges in research data exploitation. Coordinated by the EGI Foundation, the project will run until February 2028 and aims to develop cutting-edge Data Exploitation Platforms (DEPs) to enhance the accessibility, usability, and impact of research data across diverse scientific domains.

The project will be officially launched during a Kickoff Meeting, hosted at the Amsterdam Science Park from March 11 to 13, 2025.

RI-SCALE aims to address the critical need for scalable computational solutions that can harness the potential of big data generated by research infrastructures (RIs). These infrastructures are increasingly becoming “big data factories,” producing vast datasets. However, barriers such as the lack of advanced computational environments have hindered the reuse and full valorisation of these datasets.

By co-designing and validating Data Exploitation Platforms, RI-SCALE will empower RIs from biomedical and environmental domains with AI-ready platforms capable of integrating preconfigured AI frameworks, training models, and providing scalable data analytics.

The project consortium includes four RIs:

Additionally, three prominent European Data Spaces—Copernicus, Destination Earth (DestinE), and EUCAIM—will collaborate with technology providers and SMEs to prototype the Data Exploitation Platform technology and validate it through RI installations and data spaces in disciplines with the highest potential for secondary data reuse. The validation cases will use two compute centres (TUBITAK, TUWien) from EGI, a commercial data centre with GROQ cards (FragmentiX) and (pre)exascale EuroHPC systems.

The work will unlock the full value of RI datasets, enabling transformative research, innovation, and discovery across multiple domains.

RI-SCALE’s activities are structured into six Work Packages (WPs), each targeting specific objectives.

EGI’s Central Role in the Project

EGI serves as the project coordinator and leads WP1 to manage administrative, technical, financial, and ethical compliance, ensuring smooth execution across 29 partners. EGI drives the development of trusted data replication and lifecycle management solutions in WP2, aligning RI datasets with cloud and HPC environments while focusing on energy efficiency. In WP3, EGI facilitates the integration of scalable AI frameworks into DEPs, enabling advanced data processing for RIs in environmental and biomedical sciences. As the leader of WP4, EGI designs secure, interoperable identity, authentication, and authorisation solutions, ensuring compliance across RIs, e-infrastructures, and Data Spaces. EGI also coordinates co-design and validation efforts in WP5, ensuring DEP prototypes meet technical and scientific needs, while leading dissemination and capacity-building efforts in WP6 to maximise project impact and foster the adoption of DEP technologies. 

RI-SCALE represents an important step in advancing the role of European RIs in global research and innovation ecosystems. With its diverse consortium, robust technological framework, and vision aligned with EU policy goals, the project will pave the way for sustainable and impactful use of research data. Stay tuned for updates from the RI-SCALE Kickoff Meeting in Amsterdam, where the project’s roadmap and initial milestones will be discussed.