EOSC Focus has remained true to its overriding objectives while vigorously adapting to the dynamic EOSC environment. The project has evolved in concert with the maturation of the EOSC Partnership and the emergence of the EOSC Federation, a concept which only took form during the project, and which has now come to dominate the activities of EOSC-A.
EOSC Focus was able to achieve this metamorphosis due to two of the project’s greatest strengths: the exceptionally high level of cross-work package and cross-project synergies that were exploited; and the successful matrixing of the project’s work plan with that of EOSC-A.
These two foundational aspects of the project have their symbolic roots in the co-branding guidelines(1), and their practical roots in the collaboration framework established by the “Vademecum, A Handbook for Effective Collaboration within the EOSC co-programmed Partnership”(2), both established in the project’s early months. These initiatives were built upon throughout the project to capitalize on their proven ability to maximise stakeholder engagement, the dissemination of information and knowledge, and the overall impact of the project and the Association.
In the EOSC context, the difference between May 2022 and May 2025 is like that of night and day. EOSC itself has moved from the initiative stage onto the cusp of its operational stage, in the form of the EOSC Federation, expected to launch in November 2025. Correspondingly, the level and intensity of activity among EOSC’s community of stakeholders has increased exponentially, along with its needs relative to coordination, communication and strategic planning for a post-Horizon Europe world.
In this respect, the EOSC Focus objectives have held up well. As the designated “voice of the community”, EOSC-A, with prodigious support from EOSC Focus, has anchored itself as the focal point for stakeholder engagement and coordination via its robust communication channels, as founder and host of the EOSC Forum online collaboration platform, and through its indefatigable outreach efforts. EOSC Focus has also enabled the Association to future-proof its monitoring and reporting activities on behalf of the EOSC Partnership and to lay a new foundation for the Partnership’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) that will move the development of the EOSC Federation strategically toward its next governance and financing structures. The resourcing models for this future have also been investigated by EOSC Focus.
But the crowning achievement of EOSC Focus may well be its success in identifying, energizing and organizing the broader “EOSC community”, a concept that in 2022 was far more difficult to envision than it is in 2025. By aligning the HE EOSC-related projects, providing a focal point for their sustainability ambitions, and by bringing together the roughly 2000 individuals that make up the core constituency of EOSC and the EOSC Federation, EOSC Focus has itself established a legacy of impact that will extend far beyond Horizon Europe.
(1) EOSC Association. (2022). Co-branding guidelines for Horizon Europe INFRAEOSC projects. Zenodo: 11049140
(2) EOSC Association. (2022). Vademecum - A Handbook for Effective Collaboration within the EOSC co-programmed Partnership. Zenodo: 11047457
