The European open science cloud governance model : towards a new European decision making modelling to support research and innovation : final study report

For the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) to be feasible, successful and sustainable in the long run, its governance structure must be able to reflect the objectives and needs of its funders and stakeholders regarding what the EOSC does, how it works and who has access. While the EOSC in in line with a long tradition of supporting European research with public resources through the European Commission and the Member States, it is ultimately intended to foster research in the public interest much more broadly, with the participation of global researchers, research institutions and research outputs funded from the private and civil society sectors. To develop and realise such a grand vision there needs to be a starting point that makes it possible to align stakeholders and facilitate the evolution of the structure towards a truly open Cloud in support of Open Science. This will help to ensure wide and easy access to a rich set of diverse and high-quality data both from science per se and from the wider activities of our data-intensive society; access to these data can be of crucial value in advancing knowledge and tackling societal challenges. Inspiration has been found in multistakeholder governance infrastructures that have been developing over decades in the ICT domain of global Internet Governance (ICANN, IETF), scientifically-orientated e-infrastructures (e.g. European initiatives such as GÉANT), research data infrastructures (e.g. Elixir) and industry driven R&I support initiatives (e.g. AIOTI). This leads us to recommend starting with a model led by funding institution stakeholders to ensure a solid and swift start. As experience and participation increase and the EOSC matures, this will migrate towards a more open multistakeholder model to ensure added value for all stakeholders and long run sustainability.