Designing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) for Ireland | Learning from European EOSC Nodes
As Ireland progresses towards establishing a national node within the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Federation, Asiera is playing a key role in shaping the future of EOSC Ireland, drawing on international experience and engaging with research communities across Ireland and Europe, funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Asiera Research Engagement Officers Roberto Sabatino and Jenny O’Neill, together with Karen Thornton, Director of Strategy & Business Planning, are contributing their expertise to the development of EOSC Ireland, supporting Ireland’s engagement with the wider European EOSC ecosystem. Roberto and Jenny have been closely involved in the national EOSC conversation, including contributing to previous work on the implementation of EOSC in Ireland.
Their involvement has continued through the EOSC.ie project, led by Asiera, which is working to establish an agreed and tested specification for an EOSC Ireland Node, supported by a clear business case and sustainable future operating model.
Learning from European EOSC Nodes
A new report, Building EOSC Ireland: Lessons from European EOSC Nodes, provides an important contribution to this work. Published by the EOSC.ie project team in September 2026, the report captures lessons gathered through a series of visits and consultations with established and emerging EOSC Nodes across Europe.
Between February and May 2026, members of the EOSC.ie team engaged with representatives from the EOSC EU Node, EOSC Poland, the SURF EOSC Node in the Netherlands, EOSC Finland, the Photon and Neutron Open Science Cloud (PaNOSC), and Life Sciences Connect. The aim was to understand how different nodes are being developed and operated, and to identify practical approaches that could inform the design of EOSC Ireland.
One of the strongest messages emerging from these engagements is that successful EOSC Nodes are not necessarily about creating entirely new platforms. Instead, their value lies in coordinating, connecting and exposing existing services and research infrastructures, making them easier for researchers to discover and access.
The report identifies several critical considerations for Ireland, including strong governance and coordination, sustainable funding and staffing, metadata harvesting and discoverability, authentication and authorisation infrastructure, interoperability and federation, community engagement, and approaches to sensitive data and trusted research environments.
Building on Ireland’s Research Strengths
The findings reinforce the importance of taking a phased and collaborative approach to developing EOSC Ireland, building on the services, expertise and infrastructure that already exist across the Irish research ecosystem.
The report also highlights the importance of interoperability from the outset and of developing sustainable governance and funding models alongside the technical infrastructure. Equally important is ensuring that researchers, research-support professionals and service providers are actively involved in shaping and adopting the emerging national node.
These principles closely align with the wider objectives of Asiera’s research engagement work, which seeks to strengthen research infrastructure, collaboration and access to shared digital services for Ireland’s education and research community.
For Asiera, participation in EOSC Ireland represents an opportunity to help connect Ireland’s research capabilities with the wider European research landscape, supporting greater collaboration, discoverability and access to shared research resources.
As the development of EOSC Ireland progresses, the experience gathered from European partners will provide an important foundation for designing a national approach that is sustainable, interoperable and responsive to the needs of Ireland’s research community.
The Building EOSC Ireland: Lessons from European EOSC Nodes report is available through the EOSC.ie project and provides valuable insight into the opportunities and considerations involved in Ireland’s continued participation in the EOSC Federation.