RDA4EOSC - Supporting the internationalisation and implementation of EOSC

The Research Data Alliance (RDA), already contributing to the creation of EOSC through the effort of its 100+ Working and Interest groups is also being used as a key vehicle in implementing EOSC and coordinating international activity.

RDA4EOSC, an activity funded through an EOSCsecretariat.eu open call and with joint collaboration from the RDA, the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) and the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), began in November 2020 and runs to the end of May 2021. This joint initiative will pave the way for future alignment and collaboration and lays the foundations for the RDA activities within the framework of the EU-funded EOSC Future project (INFRAEOSC-03) starting in April 2021.

The work of the project is organised around five pillars of activity which support a subset of scientific and research communities to prepare for engagement with EOSC and drive the identification of a set of technological and domain specific solutions to be tested in the EOSC environment.

The project will conclude with the production of a number of deliverables, including a report on awareness and readiness of domains and disciplines currently less engaged with EOSC, recommendations for engagement from 2021 onwards and a European RDA governance support and impact report.

Pillar 1: Identify and prepare new scientific and research communities to engage with EOSC

Focusing on disciplinary engagement in the EOSC, this first pillar of activities will provide a mapping of the state of awareness and readiness of various disciplinary communities. The mapping will leverage various indicators, focusing particularly on social and technical enablers such as disciplinary infrastructures, services and registries, disciplinary policies and roadmaps. The effort is aimed at identifying under-represented disciplines and providing recommendations to reduce gaps and increase engagement with the EOSC.

Pillar 2: Adoption and implementation of technological and/or domain specific research data solutions in EOSC

A call was released in March and technical expertise has been identified to create significant technical documentation for the implementation of RDA recommendations in EOSC by future adopters.  With regular monitoring and interaction with the experts, templates for RDA technical manuals of RDA recommendations will be implemented in EOSC or made available to stakeholders which will demonstrate the value of RDA outputs in supporting EOSC onboarding.

Pillar 3: Connecting EOSC with international stakeholders via RDA governance

Support is being given to the RDA Global Open Research Commons Interest Group to aid their work in aligning EOSC vision and implementation with similar activities worldwide.  A number of national and international commons have been identified and invited to attend the Interest Group’s session at the RDA Plenary 17 on 22nd April 2021 and provide an overview of their commons which will be collated for an international global commons digest.

Pillar 4: Gaining international consensus and input on EOSC

This pillar’s activities are focused on finding pathways through which the RDA can facilitate input from international communities to the EOSC, with the RDA acting as an open and inclusive forum for consensus-based consultation. Through the support to the RDA Adoption Sessions at VP16 in Costa Rica and VP17 in Edinburgh, along with a series of memos which will provide an update to RDA community members on the areas of complementary activity, this pillar will ensure engagement with all relevant stakeholders and provide the context for future cooperation between RDA and the EOSC.

Pillar 5: Institutional, policy maker and global stakeholder engagement

This pillar of activities is focused on supporting the RDA organisational and regional members in their efforts to develop their open science agenda and policies, and to align with EOSC activities and other global data commons initiatives. RDA4EOSC will develop a series of policy briefs and organise a series of coordination webinars targeting organisational representatives to facilitate dialogue, raise awareness and widen the organisational engagement with EOSC and RDA.

Learn more about RDA4EOSC

For more information on RDA4EOSC, please contact

• Hilary Hanahoe, Secretary General RDA hilary.hanahoe[at]rda-foundation.org
• Brdiget Walker, Office Manager RDA bridget.walker[at]rda-foundation.org