ANTWERP — The EOSC Association’s membership came out in full force for its in-person-only 10th General Assembly (GA), with more than 230 participants from the community joining the lunch-to-lunch meeting on 27-28 May.
The proceedings were held in the context of the runup to the July release of the EU’s draft Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and the Association’s membership came to make their voices heard. The meeting marked not only a significant transition in the Association’s leadership, but served notice that the future of EOSC and the EOSC Federation was very much the responsibility of its community of stakeholders.
Day one reflected primarily on the recent work inside EOSC-A and the progress made in the build-up of the EOSC Federation, including the decisive role played by EOSC-A in establishing the first-wave of 13 candidate EOSC Nodes that are jointly building the first iteration of the Federation. The day also served up a panel discussion that gave the EOSC-A membership its first look into the hands-on experiences of some of these “nodes-to-be”. Additionally, three new Members and two Observers were unanimously voted into the Association, a new president was elected, and a heartfelt tribute to the outgoing president closed out the day with the unveiling of a spontaneous collaborative artwork made by the meeting’s attendees.
The second day of the meeting was dedicated entirely to breakout sessions where delegates worked in smaller groups to refine the Association’s position relative to the potential post-2027 governance and funding models for EOSC.
Klaus Tochtermann to lead EOSC-A toward post-2027 configuration
Running unopposed and winning a unanimous “yes” vote, Klaus Tochtermann, treasurer of EOSC-A since 2021, will take over the EOSC-A presidency from Karel Luyben. Karel retires following two terms as EOSC-A president, and six-and-a-half years in leadership positions for EOSC. In a symbolic gesture, Karel passed Klaus a ship’s steering wheel, and warm tributes were made by Karel’s two long-time colleagues and fellow board members, Klaus and Marialuisa Lavitrano.
As soon-to-be President-Elect Tochtermann noted in his candidacy presentation, the key challenge for the EOSC Association in the months ahead is to negotiate the post-2027 governance and funding model for EOSC and the EOSC Federation with the European Commission and the Member States. This trilateral discussion, which began at the urging of EOSC-A already in summer 2022, is approaching an inflection point where proposals must begin to be aligned with the EU’s forthcoming MFF.
Boundary conditions to be refined for Tripartite discussions
The Association used the second day of its semi-annual meeting to narrow down the acceptable boundary conditions that will guide the EOSC-A Board of Directors’ position within the Tripartite. The individual discussions, later summarised in plenary for the entire GA, made it clear that the community stood united in its desire to lead the discussion within the Tripartite, and that the community’s boundary conditions for the future model are approaching a workable consensus.
Day 2 breakout sessions on the EOSC Association’s role in a post-2027 EOSC. More GA#10 photos can be found here.
The Association’s position, having collectively agreed to create the EOSC Federation as the operational side of EOSC, begins with the working assumption that the Federation will not run itself and therefore must be managed. In this light, President Luyben presented EOSC-A as “the most devoted and unbiased” organisation in Europe relative to the future governance of EOSC, and stated that EOSC-A “has no vested interest” in a particular model other than to propose the best community-based solution for EOSC’s future.
Questions arose in the discussions as to how the Association could evolve in order to serve as both a management organisation and as the voice of a member-based organisation within the emerging legal framework of an EOSC Federation of Nodes. Key to that division are the delineated tasks of running the basic operations of the Federation and that of driving the innovation and capacity-building essential to the Federation’s long-term sustainability.
Event venues in Antwerp. More GA#10 photos can be found here.
It was asserted by both President Luyben and President-Elect Tochtermann that, in order to lock down the progress made in the community discussions held at the GA, a September extra-ordinary general assembly meeting should be held. Such a meeting, held in the wake of the new draft MFF, could be used to further specify concrete governance, management and funding proposals in advance of the all-important November meeting of the EOSC Partnership’s Tripartite Governance.
All roads lead to the Federation
In reviewing the previous six months of work by the EOSC-A Board and Secretariat on the first day of the meeting, President Luyben and Secretary General Ute Gunsenheimer made it clear that the focus for EOSC-A is on its role as the voice of the EOSC community of stakeholders. In order to anchor EOSC in a post-2027 world, EOSC-A has dedicated itself to keeping the membership informed, engaged and aligned so that the Association, together with the EOSC-related EU projects, can move forward collectively.
More GA#10 photos can be found here.
In their exhaustive presentation of EOSC-A’s broad array of activities, President Luyben and Secretary General Gunsenheimer demonstrated how the Association has increasingly directed its daily efforts toward the deployment of the EOSC Federation: from its work with the Partnership and alignment of the INFRAEOSC projects, to its facilitation of its Task Forces and various member forums, and via its Members’ projected €1.3 billion in in-kind contributions through 2025. EOSC-A has additionally taken the lead on strategy development, the EOSC Federation Handbook, the EOSC Symposium and EOSC’s public communications. The result of these efforts, noted the presenters, is an Association that has emerged as a trusted partner to the European Commission and a trusted advocate for its membership’s positions and concerns. The imperative that EOSC-A should continue in a leading role is now virtually taken for granted.
Candidate Nodes catalyse the community
Following his afternoon update on the progress of the EOSC Federation, EOSC-A’s Special Envoy for the EOSC Federation and former Director, Bob Jones, moderated a panel discussion that featured representatives from three of the 13 candidate EOSC Nodes that are jointly building the first iteration of the Federation: BBMRI, from the health data sector, was represented by Petr Holub; EOSC-PL, the Polish national node, was represented by NCN’s Aneta Pazik-Aybar; and EUDAT’s pan-European e-Infrastructure node was represented by Yann Le Franc. The 40-minute discussion, which was opened up to the audience, gave valuable first-time insight into the hands-on work being done to launch the Federation in time for the EOSC Symposium in early November. As a call for a second wave of nodes is expected before the end of the year, interest in these early experiences was notably high.
Panel discussion featuring three of the 13 candidate EOSC Nodes initiating the Federation. More GA#10 photos can be found here.
What emerged from the discussions was the strong catalysing effect on each of the represented communities of simply initiating the process of deploying EOSC Nodes. In Poland, having an identity that gives the community a centre has brought 25 organisations together to build its national node. BBMRI noted that “collaborations that previously were impossible” are now a reality in the context of its Node development, citing a new Memorandum of Understanding with Italy’s ICSC as the first example. And EUDAT cited the collective power of the Federation as the catalyst for its entrenched community, already federated across 17 countries, to reinvent its ways of working.
It was noted by each member of the panel that the EOSC Association stands as essential to their efforts at community building and to reaching the goal of a participatory model of governance for the EOSC Federation.
“EOSC-A is doing a great job with a very complex task,” said NCN’s Pazik-Aybar. “It is gaining very important experience, such that beyond the build-up phase the Association should continue in its role of supporting the operations of the EOSC Federation, in my opinion, and can continue to be the voice of the community. In this very complex environment, with so many different types of Nodes, it is very important that someone collects what is happening out there and make sure that the innovations can be actually implemented.”
Appreciation of outgoing EOSC-A President Karel Luyben. More GA#10 photos can be found here.
