The Alliance of Science Organisations comments upon the European Commission's initiative to establish a European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
The Alliance of Science Organisations generally welcomes the Commission's initiative and sees potential positive effects of an EOSC. For example, it can promote knowledge-based processes and stimulate innovation, improve the security and processing of research data as well as facilitate interdisciplinary and international scientific collaboration. At the same time, from a scientific point of view, some questions still require clarification and discussion.
The German science organisations are convinced that an EOSC can be a success if its elaboration is guided by science. This means that the technical benefit is in the foreground and users are adequately represented in all decision-making structures of an EOSC. At the same time, existing national structures, competences, functionalities and initiatives related to research data management need to be adequately taken into account and stable financing ensured, not only for the development but also for the operational phase.
The Alliance of Science Organisations sees its opinion concerning the EOSC as a constructive critical contribution to a science-policy process. The members argue in favor of a balance of scientific and political interests that is appropriate to the interests of science. The Alliance of Science Organisations is ready to actively participate in the further elaboration of the plans for the development of an EOSC and to contribute to concrete solutions.
The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany is a union of the most important German research organisations. It regularly issues statements relating to research policy and funding and the structural development of the German research system. Members of the Alliance include the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). In 2018, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is chair of the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft