CERN Selected as Key Contributor to European Open Science Cloud Federation Build-Up Phase

CERN Selected as Key Contributor to European Open Science Cloud Federation Build-Up Phase

(IN BRIEF) CERN has been chosen as one of 13 institutions to contribute to the development of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Federation, a major initiative aiming to create a federated network of FAIR data and services across scientific disciplines. During a recent workshop in Brussels, participating organisations discussed plans to build a prototype of the EOSC Federation by the end of 2025. CERN’s involvement builds on its extensive open science expertise and long-standing platforms like Zenodo, Indico, and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. The next project milestone will take place in June 2025.

(PRESS RELEASE) GENEVA, 25-Apr-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — CERN has been selected as one of 13 prominent scientific institutions to help shape the future of collaborative research through its contribution to the build-up phase of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Federation. This initiative marks a pivotal step in the ongoing effort to create a federated network that ensures FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) access to scientific data and services across disciplines and borders.

Launched in April 2024, the EOSC EU Node—the first operational hub of the Federation—entered full production in October and now provides integrated access to millions of scientific resources including publications, datasets, software, and collaborative computing platforms. This pioneering platform is laying the foundation for a broader EOSC Federation, designed as a decentralized, interoperable web of national and institutional nodes that support open science across Europe.

At a recent strategic meeting in Brussels, representatives from CERN and 12 other selected organisations convened with the EOSC Association and EU Node leadership to outline a joint roadmap for delivering a working prototype of the EOSC Federation by the end of 2025. The workshop highlighted the infrastructure capabilities, scientific use cases, and collaborative potential each contributor brings to this pan-European digital ecosystem.

CERN’s participation builds on its longstanding leadership in open science, including its stewardship of widely adopted platforms like Zenodo, CERN Open Data, InvenioRDM, Indico, ESCAPE VRE, REANA, INSPIREHEP, HEPData, ScienceMesh, and contributions to federated storage through EFSS and the CS3 community. These tools are crucial to enabling transparent, shareable, and sustainable research workflows at scale.

“As we design the EOSC Federation, it’s critical that end users are embedded in the service co-creation process,” said Bob Jones, senior staff member at CERN and outgoing EOSC Association Board member. “This approach has underpinned the success of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), which remains the backbone of data management in high-energy physics more than two decades after its inception.”

The consortium will now begin refining their project charters and initiating technical integration efforts, with the first official progress checkpoint scheduled for June 2025.

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SOURCE: CERN