Open Science and research facilities: Unibo joins ICDI

The University of Bologna joined the ICDI (Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure), a forum created by representatives of major Italian Research Infrastructures and e-Infrastructures. Unibo's aim within this context is to promote synergies at the national level and optimise Italian participation in European and global challenges in this field. Moreover, in view of making science increasingly open and accessible, Unibo has also applied to become a member of the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud). EOSC is a digital portal dedicated to European researchers for archiving, managing, analysing and repurposing research data made available through consortia of several existing data providers.

"Open Science means unrestricted access to scientific knowledge for both academics and citizens. And the path to Open Science is internationally relevant besides being a long-term strategic goal of the European Union. The University of Bologna owns to the principles of inclusion and transparency characterising Open Science. For this reason, the University has initiated a process of transformation to contribute to the cause of Open Science", says the Vice-Rector for Research, Prof. Antonino Rotolo. "Within this framework, Unibo's presence at the ICDI forum and in EOSC will strengthen our connections and collaborations with the main European actors of Open Science".

While promoting synergies between Italian Research Infrastructures and e-Infrastructures, ICDI collects information and data about specific topics within the field of Open Science to contribute to creating and debating national strategies regarding the construction of a European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and a European Data Infrastructure (EDI).

"Participating in the ICDI forum will allow the University of Bologna to become more active in developing Open Science-oriented processes, facilities and services at the national level", explains Monica Forni, who is a professor at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences. Together with the Vice Rector for Research, they will represent the University of Bologna at ICDI. "In this way, the University will benefit from existing international relations and the good practices that other institutions have implemented, eventually taking them back to our own scientific community so that the latter can thrive and pursue its Open Science goals".

ICDI (Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure within the GARR consortium), CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering), CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and GEANT (pan-European data network for the research and education community) are all founding partners of the EOSC Association.

EOSC promotes Open Science practices to create knowledge, inspire education, stimulate innovation and foster accessibility and transparency. Finally, the creation of this association is strategic to build, in the future, a key partnership with the European Union to discuss investment policies regarding Open Science and other initiatives fostering free access to data and their analysis, archival, certification (FAIR). All this will make European research more productive as well as more interdisciplinary and eventually more efficient and competitive.