Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SoBigData RI PPP (SoBigData RI Preparatory Phase Project)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-09-30
SoBigData RI provides researchers and innovators with a comprehensive platform for designing and executing large-scale data science and social mining experiments. Through its suite of tools and services, the infrastructure enables efficient, cloud-based access (aligned with EOSC guidelines) and leverages supercomputing facilities to support advanced research.
Open to users from diverse disciplines, SoBigData RI facilitates the creation of reproducible and adaptable social mining experiments, empowering domain experts who may not be data scientists. The infrastructure promotes both the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and FACT (Fair, Accountable, Confidential, and Transparent) principles to ensure rigorous and responsible data practices.
By integrating resources from multiple perspectives—including online service development, big data analytics, AI, and complex systems modeling—SoBigData RI addresses the ethical, legal, socio-economic, and cultural (ELSEC) dimensions of data protection and privacy-preserving innovation.
The SoBigData RI PPP advanced the infrastructure from merely raising awareness of ethical and legal issues in social mining toward developing concrete, operational tools. This progression operationalized ethics through value-sensitive design, embedding principles of privacy, fairness, transparency, and pluralism into the research process.
Open to users from diverse disciplines, SoBigData RI facilitates the creation of reproducible and adaptable social mining experiments, empowering domain experts who may not be data scientists. The infrastructure promotes both the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and FACT (Fair, Accountable, Confidential, and Transparent) principles to ensure rigorous and responsible data practices.
By integrating resources from multiple perspectives—including online service development, big data analytics, AI, and complex systems modeling—SoBigData RI addresses the ethical, legal, socio-economic, and cultural (ELSEC) dimensions of data protection and privacy-preserving innovation.
The SoBigData RI PPP advanced the infrastructure from merely raising awareness of ethical and legal issues in social mining toward developing concrete, operational tools. This progression operationalized ethics through value-sensitive design, embedding principles of privacy, fairness, transparency, and pluralism into the research process.
The SoBigData RI PPP has achieved significant milestones in establishing the foundation of the future SoBigData ERIC and strengthening its operational framework.
ERIC statute and governance: The project developed the first version of the SoBigData ERIC statute through extensive consultation with established ERICs, project partners, and beneficiaries. This statute defines the legal and organisational framework for the research infrastructure, fully aligned with EU regulations and best practices. It covers governance, membership, financial management, and sustainability, forming the basis for the ERIC’s long-term operation. Coordination with the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) led to the creation of the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR), ensuring a smooth transition toward formal ERIC submission.
Financial and technological aspects: Comprehensive guidelines were produced for both national nodes and the central hub, outlining administrative, financial, and technological requirements for integration into the RI. The central hub coordinates node development, ensuring consistency within the distributed infrastructure. All related outputs are consolidated in the RI blueprint (WP9), which supports alignment with the ESFRI Roadmap.
Social data procurement strategy: Building on the European Data Strategy, SoBigData RI refined its plan for social data acquisition through new collaborative models and technological frameworks for managing and integrating diverse data sources. The RI expanded its community and partnerships, now hosting over 750 catalogue items and providing services supporting projects such as FAIR, PRESERVE, ITSERR, BlueCloud 2026, and Software Heritage.
Service portfolio definition: The consortium defined a dynamic service portfolio process to ensure flexibility and scalability. It detailed the future ERIC’s planned services, access models, and technical facilities, enabling seamless single-point access to distributed resources.
SoBigData as a facilitator: The project also positioned SoBigData RI as a facilitator for new collaborations, leading to the submission of eight Horizon proposals in domains including health, mobility, and SME digitalisation. One proposal, SCIANCE, launched in December, with SoBigData representing the SSH community and contributing to Europe’s AI and RAISE initiatives.
ERIC statute and governance: The project developed the first version of the SoBigData ERIC statute through extensive consultation with established ERICs, project partners, and beneficiaries. This statute defines the legal and organisational framework for the research infrastructure, fully aligned with EU regulations and best practices. It covers governance, membership, financial management, and sustainability, forming the basis for the ERIC’s long-term operation. Coordination with the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) led to the creation of the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR), ensuring a smooth transition toward formal ERIC submission.
Financial and technological aspects: Comprehensive guidelines were produced for both national nodes and the central hub, outlining administrative, financial, and technological requirements for integration into the RI. The central hub coordinates node development, ensuring consistency within the distributed infrastructure. All related outputs are consolidated in the RI blueprint (WP9), which supports alignment with the ESFRI Roadmap.
Social data procurement strategy: Building on the European Data Strategy, SoBigData RI refined its plan for social data acquisition through new collaborative models and technological frameworks for managing and integrating diverse data sources. The RI expanded its community and partnerships, now hosting over 750 catalogue items and providing services supporting projects such as FAIR, PRESERVE, ITSERR, BlueCloud 2026, and Software Heritage.
Service portfolio definition: The consortium defined a dynamic service portfolio process to ensure flexibility and scalability. It detailed the future ERIC’s planned services, access models, and technical facilities, enabling seamless single-point access to distributed resources.
SoBigData as a facilitator: The project also positioned SoBigData RI as a facilitator for new collaborations, leading to the submission of eight Horizon proposals in domains including health, mobility, and SME digitalisation. One proposal, SCIANCE, launched in December, with SoBigData representing the SSH community and contributing to Europe’s AI and RAISE initiatives.
The SoBigData Research RI has generated impact across three main dimensions: methodological, educational, and ethical. Methodologically, it advances standardisation through shared tools, open datasets, and reproducible analytical workflows. Educationally, it enhances skills and community capacity via training, collaboration, and open research access. Ethically, it provides a model environment for compliant, fair, and transparent data-driven research, embedding governance, auditing, and privacy mechanisms.
During the SoBigData RI PPP—complemented by SoBigData++ and SoBigData.it—the infrastructure strengthened an open research and innovation ecosystem, attracting new users and fostering co-designed experiments with industry, public bodies, and academia. It contributes to societal challenges addressed by Horizon Europe Pillar II clusters, particularly through responsible data science, AI, and computational social science. The RI also helps reduce duplications and operational costs, enabling the reallocation of resources toward innovation. Building on the PPP service portfolio, SoBigData will expand its offerings in the implementation phase, ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustained engagement with stakeholders. This includes promoting FAIR principles and educational initiatives that improve public understanding of big data and AI. In its latest phase, the project refined governance mechanisms and consolidated its distributed network of national nodes—Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, and Greece—unifying them under a shared strategy. These nodes now coordinate with governmental bodies to establish the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) and secure long-term political and financial support.
During the SoBigData RI PPP—complemented by SoBigData++ and SoBigData.it—the infrastructure strengthened an open research and innovation ecosystem, attracting new users and fostering co-designed experiments with industry, public bodies, and academia. It contributes to societal challenges addressed by Horizon Europe Pillar II clusters, particularly through responsible data science, AI, and computational social science. The RI also helps reduce duplications and operational costs, enabling the reallocation of resources toward innovation. Building on the PPP service portfolio, SoBigData will expand its offerings in the implementation phase, ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustained engagement with stakeholders. This includes promoting FAIR principles and educational initiatives that improve public understanding of big data and AI. In its latest phase, the project refined governance mechanisms and consolidated its distributed network of national nodes—Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, and Greece—unifying them under a shared strategy. These nodes now coordinate with governmental bodies to establish the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR) and secure long-term political and financial support.