(Published on 16.12.2022) The first EOSC-A Tripartite Event in Germany was hosted by the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) on 24 November 2022 in Karlsruhe. The event was designed to strengthen and broaden the links between the NFDI and EOSC. It was organized as a hybrid event with contributions online and a panel discussion in Karlsruhe. The audience could join the event via livestream. There were contributions from 14 speakers and panelists and over 200 realtime viewers on YouTube. The whole EOSC-A Tripartite Event Germany can be watched here.
The German National Research Data Infrastructure Association (NFDI) and the European Open Science Cloud Association (EOSC) in Brussels are being developed in parallel with the aim of sharing and reusing research data across disciplinary, institutional, and geographical boundaries. The aim of the event was to work out what the two initiatives have in common and what the mutual expectations with the involvement of various stakeholders are. Another goal was to identify opportunities and added value of cooperation.
After a brief welcome by NFDI Director York Sure-Vetter, the event was opened by three keynotes of representatives of the Tripartite Collaboration: Mario Brandenburg (Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister of Education and Research) highlighted NFDI as the main contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany to EOSC and shared his conviction that “the only way to make use of the value of data is if we work together and join forces.” Anna Panagopoulou (Director European Research Area and Innovation of the European Commission) gave an overview over the federated infrastructure of EOSC and the Tripartite Partnership and declared that “the developments of the NFDI are of great relevance for the EOSC developments.” Karel Luyben (EOSC Association President) presented his dream of building a web of FAIR data and related services for research and invited all EOSC stakeholders to contribute to make this dream a reality.
The following two talks gave impulses from the perspective of representatives of two key stakeholders from Germany: Lars Bernard (Deputy chairs of the German Council for Scientific Infrastructures (RfII)) compared NFDI and EOSC and gave recommendations for the roll-out of European initiatives. Kathrin Winkler (Programme Director of Scientific Library Services and Information Systems at the German Research Foundation (DFG)) discussed the significance of vertical and horizontal integration for the national and international funding strategy of the DFG.
Afterwards the NFDI sections, which are working on similar topics as the EOSC Task Forces, introduced themselves. The spokespersons of the current four sections showed the expected contributions of the section to EOSC, but also formulated their expectations of EOSC.
The second part of the event comprised a panel discussion, moderated by Jan-Martin Wiarda (Journalist for Science and Education), on the topic “NFDI & EOSC – Why do we need both?” with questions from the audience. Part of the panel were Roland Bertelmann (Head of Helmholtz Open Science Office), Ute Gunsenheimer (EOSC-Association Secretary General), Andrea Herdegen (Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany/EOSC Steering Board), Raphael Ritz (Head of Data Division at the Max-Planck Computing and Data Facility (MPCDF), Head of RDA-DE), and York Sure-Vetter (NFDI Director). The discussion gave a good first impression of the potential that the connection of NFDI and EOSC offers. To jointly achieve the shared goals it is imperative to avoid the set-up of parallel structures and to work together, so that NFDI and EOSC can move forward together. It is necessary to get stakeholders from all levels involved to jointly address the common issues and challenges that lie ahead. It is vital to understand how the engagement of the different communities and the linkage of people and services can be achieved. The whole event and the panel discussion in particular proved that there is a need to strengthen the already existing collaboration of NFDI and EOSC with further activities in the future.
Photo above: York Sure-Vetter, Andrea Herdegen, Roland Bertelmann, Ute Gunsenheimer, Raphael Ritz, Jan-Martin Wiarda.
Foto below: Mario Brandenburg (Zoom)
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