Research infrastructures (RIs) operate in complex innovation ecosystems where industry plays an increasingly important role. Pan-EU initiatives, such as the Innovation Union or the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, revolutionise the way public and private sectors work together, and help to create structural frameworks which are needed to foster such collaborations. While initiatives of this type play a crucial role in enabling industry to become a full partner of research infrastructures whether it is as a user, a supplier, or a co-creator, they do not fully utilise or engage Industrial Liaison and Contact Officers (ILOs/ICOs) which could have a central role in boosting the RI-industry partnerships. To address this gap, ENRIITC will build a permanent pan-European network of ILOs and ICOs. This will be done in a community-driven, cross-functional, cross-sectoral, multiplier-based way which will be inclusive and enable all interested parties to actively participate. By supporting the establishment of strategic, cross-border partnerships between industry and research infrastructures, ENRIITC will enable win-win results for all parties. With a timeline of 36 months, 11 partners from seven countries, and a strong support from 61 Associates from around Europe, ENRIITC will 1) establish a sustainable European network of ILOs and ICOs which enables mutual learning, 2) map collaboration potential between research infrastructures and industry, 3) develop and refine strategies and best practices to foster these collaborations, 4) raise awareness among industry for collaboration opportunities at research infrastructures, and demonstrate impact. The consortium and Associates will jointly balance the need for expertise from diverse scientific areas, combine it with practical insights from establishing relations with various industries operating in different sectors and geographical contexts, and propagate it among their networks.

The ambition of AtlantECO is to develop and apply a novel, unifying framework for providing knowledge-based resources to design policies, support decisions making and engage with citizens to encourage responsible behaviour to manage the Atlantic system and protect its Ecosystem Services (ES) provision. The aim of AtlantECO is to determine the structure and function of Atlantic microbiome in the context of ocean circulation and presence of pollutants, e.g., plastics, to assess its role in driving the dynamics of Atlantic ecosystems at basin and regional scales; its potential of being used as a sensor of ecosystem state and the mechanisms by which it drives the provision of 5ES. This is key to improve our predictions on future provision of ES in the basin and to favour the establishment of a sustainable Blue Growth strategy for an All-Atlantic community. To realise this vision, AtlantECO has four objectives which are to 1) Assess dynamics of Atlantic marine ecosystems, their ES provision and the interplay of both with socio-economic activities; 2 increase knowledge and data on microbiomes, plastics, the plastisphere and carbon fluxes that support ecosystems at basin scale using best practices and integrative sampling strategies, novel genomics, imaging and biogeochemical methods, bioinformatics and modelling approaches; 3) Assess and predict the cumulative impacts of multiple stressors on ecosystem status and dynamics and ES provision, identifying their drivers and role on tipping points, assessing their changes in recovery of ecosystem structures, functions and services, and developing eco-socio-economic models to predict future trajectories and 4) Deploy a systemic strategy to build capacity and transfer knowledge for a seamless engagement between science, industry, policy, and society. To achieve these objectives AtlantECO brings together experts and pioneers from Europe, South America and South Africa with the relevant resources, knowledge and experience.

MINKE will integrate key European marine metrology research infrastructures, to coordinate their use and development and propose an innovative framework of “quality of oceanographic data” for the different European actors in charge of monitoring and managing the marine ecosystems. MINKE proposes a new vision in the design of marine monitoring networks considering two dimensions of data quality, accuracy and completeness, as the driving components of the quality in data acquisition. This new vision will be framed in a quintuple helix model of innovation, incorporating all the elements involved in the monitoring network design: ● the context (ocean health), identifying the Essential Ocean variables (EOVs) as the key parameters to monitor ● the civil society (NGO, Makers community, Social media and Citizen Science platforms) as the key actors to ensure data completeness ● the academia researching new methods to ensure the accuracy and the global quality of the final products, developing tools for integrating the information of top-qualified oceanographic instruments and low-cost instrumentation. ● the industry improving the performance of the observations with new instrumentation, data-transmission systems and cost-effective technologies ● the governments that provide the legal and socio-economic frameworks to develop the proposed network The present proposal, through the different Integration Activities (Networking, Transnational-Virtual Access and Joint Research), aims to lay the groundwork for creating the necessary synergies among the different involved actors in the quintuple helix model of innovation, creating a new community with complementary capabilities for Ocean & Coastal Observation, that will facilitate the transition towards a blue growth socio-economic system.

EOSC Future responds to INFRAEOSC-03-2020 call in order to integrate, consolidate, and connect e-infrastructures, research communities, and initiatives in Open Science to further develop the EOSC Portal, EOSC-Core and EOSC-Exchange of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). EOSC Future is structured around six thematic pillars that strategically group the work package tasks and activities and coherently present the key objectives and activities of the project to stakeholders: Pillar 1 on Policy & Strategy will coordinate and support a strategic vision for the future EOSC; Pillar 2 on Connection & Integration will connect and integrate EOSC infrastructures, data, and services; Pillar 3 on Excellent Science & Interdisciplinarity will extend the EOSC value Chain with scientific use cases; Pillar 4 on Growth & Innovation will grow and innovate EOSC with value-added services; Pillar 5 on Skills & Training will train users and providers of the EOSC ecosystem; and Pillar 6 on Engagement & Communications will engage the wider EOSC Community at a global level. EOSC Future will unlock the potential of European research via a vision of Open Science for Society by (1) bringing all major stakeholders in the EOSC ecosystem together under one project umbrella to break the disciplinary and community silos and consolidate key EOSC project outputs, (2) developing scientific use cases in collaboration with the thematic communities showcasing the benefits and societal value of EOSC for doing excellent and interdisciplinary research, (3) engaging the wider EOSC community and increasing the visibility of EOSC through communications campaigns, marketing strategies, and physical and online engagement events, and (4) including the EOSC community in developing the EOSC Portal (including the long tail of science, public and private sectors, and international partners) via co-creation open calls.

Geo-INQUIRE will provide and enhance access to selected key data, products, and services, enabling the dynamic processes within the geosphere to be monitored and modelled at new levels of spatial and temporal detail and precision. Geo-INQUIRE aims to overcome cross-domain barriers, especially the land-sea-atmosphere environments, and will exploit innovative data management techniques, modelling and simulations methods, developments in AI and big data, and extend existing data infrastructures to disseminate these resources to the wider scientific community, including the EOSC landscape. Geo-INQUIRE benefits from a unique partnership of 51 partners consisting of major national research institutes, universities, national geological surveys, and European consortia. Geo-INQUIRE will enhance and make interoperable the activities of the involved partners and conduct dedicated training programs for their optimal use. A portfolio of over 150 Virtual Access (VA) and Transnational Access (TA, both virtual and on-site) installations will be offered to the scientific community. While many such resources are already available at a high level of maturity, Geo-INQUIRE will ensure that they not only reach the highest level of scientific excellence through targeted actions on availability, quality, and spatial and temporal resolution, but also that they follow FAIR principles, adopt proper standards and open licenses, and aim at cross-disciplinary interoperability. Furthermore, the integration of different data, including new observables, products, and services will be optimized through TA activities via 6 test beds, which will also host workshops and summer schools dealing with the available resources. Ultimately, Geo-INQUIRE, with its enhanced data, product, and service portfolio, will enable the next generation of scientists to carry out leading-edge research addressing societal challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective, making intelligent use of these resources.