On 26–27 June 2025, representatives from 33 Horizon Europe-funded projects gathered in Brussels for the fourth EOSC Coordination Meeting. Organised by the European Commission and attended by members of the EOSC Association, the two-day event focused on aligning strategies, reinforcing collaboration, and integrating the latest projects funded under the 2024 calls. The meeting took place in an important moment for EOSC, as the initiative prepares to launch its operational phase—the EOSC Federation—later this year.
Pasquale Pagano (CNR ISTI), Scientific Coordinator of Blue-Cloud2026, participated in the session “Perspectives on the EOSC Federation”, where he presented the evolution of Blue-Cloud within the wider EOSC landscape. His presentation revisited the initial challenge: navigating a highly fragmented European marine data landscape, with multiple formats, platforms, and access methods. The pilot phase demonstrated the feasibility of a thematic cloud by developing five real-world demonstrators, giving researchers access to integrated data sources through hands-on Virtual Laboratories focused on fisheries, aquaculture, and environmental monitoring.
Presenting at the EOSC Coordination Meeting was an important opportunity to reflect on the Blue-Cloud journey. What began as a pilot project exploring the feasibility of a thematic cloud has developed into a recognised Marine Thematic Node within the EOSC Federation. Our role has gradually taken shape as both an integrator and a scientific support environment, contributing to a shared vision in which EU initiatives such as EMODnet, Copernicus Marine, and the EDITO Digital Twin Ocean infrastructure form the basis of a coherent marine data space within EOSC.
A big part of Blue-Cloud’s sustainability lies in this decision to base its services on the D4Science infrastructure, which offers a mature, production-level environment with tools such as federated authentication, JupyterHub, RStudio, and workflow management systems. This has not only saved years of development time but has allowed the project to deliver continuity and build user trust beyond the scope of project funding cycles.
Earlier in June, Blue-Cloud2026 was also represented at the fourth EOSC Federation Build-up Group Meeting, held in Kraków at the National Science Centre Poland. Massimiliano Assante (CNR ISTI) took part on behalf of the Blue-Cloud Node, supporting the collective effort to build a federated, interoperable, and open European Thematic Marine Node for EOSC. Among the highlights was the presentation of a strategic multi-node use case on marine microbiomes and carbon sequestration, developed in collaboration with the Life Science, Data Terra, and Poland Nodes. Initially centred on the North Sea, this cross-node prototype illustrates the potential of harmonising multidisciplinary data across EOSC Nodes—an approach with promising applicability to other regions such as the Baltic Sea.
With D4Science providing the core infrastructure and VLab platform, Blue-Cloud continues to bridge data, services, and research communities across Europe.
With the launch of Blue-Cloud2026, the project embraced its role as a “Node Builder”, aligning with the EOSC Federation Handbook. This required a strategic shift—from developing demonstrators to fully integrating into the EOSC ecosystem, working on FAIR principles, open standards, and interoperability, while actively engaging in governance and policy discussions.
We were pleased to see Blue-Cloud acknowledged by Peter Szegedi of the EOSC EU Node as an example of a project that has moved beyond its original scope to become a reliable, long-term asset for the marine research community. This recognition aligns with our core approach: building on existing, operational infrastructures like D4Science to ensure service continuity, and prioritising collaboration across initiatives rather than duplication of effort. It shows that connecting and strengthening what already exists can bring lasting benefits to Europe’s marine science landscape.
Blue-Cloud continues to play a unique role in the marine data space—not as a parallel infrastructure, but as a connector. It supports access to and integration of data and services from key EU assets, enabling researchers to discover harmonised data, launch virtual labs, and develop outputs that can feed into infrastructures like EDITO. Through this approach, Blue-Cloud acts as an incubator for scientific innovation and operational uptake.
Pasquale concluded his intervention by sharing some lessons learned through this journey: the importance of building on sustainable foundations; the need to connect, not replicate; the value of clear roles and governance models; and the imperative of engaging with user communities from the outset to ensure relevance.
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