HEAnet Supports EOSC Ireland: A Vision for a National Node
HEAnet continues to play a pivotal facilitative and infrastructural role in Ireland’s engagement with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), through its leadership of the EOSC Ireland initiative. The latest position paper: “Implementing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in Ireland” has been published. This paper proposes the development of a EOSC Federation national node for Ireland: EOSC Ireland.
This updated version has been developed under the project leadership of Roberto Sabatino, in collaboration with Jenny O’Neill, both Research Engagement Officers at HEAnet. Their work was carried out in close partnership with a national committee made up of representatives from across Ireland’s educational and research institutions. The resulting position paper reflects the collective expertise and coordinated effort of contributors from across Ireland’s research ecosystem.
Overview of HEAnet’s Involvement:
- National Support Role: HEAnet contributes to EOSC Ireland as a national e-infrastructure provider, helping to align Ireland’s research networking and data services with EOSC’s goals of open science and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data.
- Technical Enablement: HEAnet provides high-speed connectivity and federated services that are essential for integrating Irish researchers and institutions with the broader European EOSC ecosystem.
- Collaboration and Advocacy: HEAnet works in partnership with other Irish stakeholders, such as the National Open Research Forum (NORF), the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), and Ireland’s higher education institutions, to ensure coordinated national input into EOSC.
- Capacity Building: Through its technical expertise, HEAnet supports the development of services, infrastructure, and training that enable Irish researchers to participate in EOSC-enabled projects and access pan-European research outputs.
EOSC Ireland will be a digital platform that connects researchers and research infrastructures across Ireland to the European-wide EOSC Federation, a stated EU priority action to accelerate open science across Europe. It will allow researchers and their stakeholders to share, access and provide data, tools, and applications, making national and international collaboration and innovation easier. EOSC Ireland will therefore serve as the digital fabric that seamlessly weaves together data, compute resources, and research workflows. As such, it will provide a focus for policy around research funding and research data.
Beyond technical implementation, this paper highlights the broader value of EOSC Ireland in fostering interoperability across research domains, lowering barriers to data access, and supporting the secure, standards-based exchange of services and knowledge. It identifies the actions, requirements, and gaps necessary to ensure Ireland’s successful integration into the EOSC Federation and positions EOSC Ireland as a foundational step toward a more connected, competitive, and impactful national research ecosystem.
To support wider engagement, three additional target groups have been identified, each supported by a dedicated one-page brief summarising key information:
- Researchers – Implementing EOSC in Ireland: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16746171
- Funders & Policy Makers – Implementing EOSC in Ireland: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16746653
- Institutional Leads – Implementing EOSC in Ireland: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16746724
HEAnet’s role in this initiative is both strategic and foundational. Beyond enhancing Ireland’s digital research capabilities, HEAnet ensures that the national infrastructure is aligned with evolving European research priorities. Its involvement is instrumental in making EOSC more accessible, relevant, and beneficial to Irish institutions and the broader research community.
To learn more about research engagement at HEAnet, contact researchengagement@heanet.ie
