Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Blue-Cloud 2026 (A federated European FAIR and Open Research Ecosystem for oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters)
Berichtszeitraum: 2024-01-01 bis 2024-12-31
The Blue-Cloud 2026 project operates in the framework of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), under which programme it was conceived and funded (HORIZON-INFRA-2022-EOSC-01-03: FAIR and open data sharing in support of healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters).
The Blue-Cloud Service platform features a variety of services that can be used for undertaking world-class science via the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) ecosystem, by featuring leading operational marine research infrastructures and e-infrastructures. By working closely with long-term EU marine data services (i.e. EMODnet), and research data infrastructures (i.e. EuroArgo, SeaDataNet, Ecotaxa and others), Blue-Cloud is introducing a federated model, offering e-infrastructure services (computing, storage, analytics, SSO, AAI, generic service), an internal data discovery service (10M+ datasets and products from European marine infrastructures), and research intensive virtual labs, all embedded in a VRE open to any users with federated identity. In the Blue-Cloud federation, Blue research infrastructures (RIs) and other data and service infrastructures and technological providers are undertaking and have made large steps forward to make their services available to the community via agreed, FAIR formats and technology and standards and best practices supporting data exchange and interoperability, that EOSC recommends or accepts.
The Blue-Cloud Service platform features a variety of services that can be used for undertaking world-class science via the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) ecosystem, by featuring leading operational marine research infrastructures and e-infrastructures. By working closely with long-term EU marine data services (i.e. EMODnet), and research data infrastructures (i.e. EuroArgo, SeaDataNet, Ecotaxa and others), Blue-Cloud is introducing a federated model, offering e-infrastructure services (computing, storage, analytics, SSO, AAI, generic service), an internal data discovery service (10M+ datasets and products from European marine infrastructures), and research intensive virtual labs, all embedded in a VRE open to any users with federated identity. In the Blue-Cloud federation, Blue research infrastructures (RIs) and other data and service infrastructures and technological providers are undertaking and have made large steps forward to make their services available to the community via agreed, FAIR formats and technology and standards and best practices supporting data exchange and interoperability, that EOSC recommends or accepts.
The Blue-Cloud VRE nowadays offers marine research communities a tailored virtual laboratory equipped with a comprehensive suite of data analytics tools, including Jupyter-based notebooks, RStudio environments, Galaxy, and a scalable cloud computing platform. These analytics solutions can be customised regarding computing power, storage capacity, pre-installed software libraries, and integrated data spaces. By seamlessly integrating these tools within the virtual research environment, the service fosters collaboration and accelerates the adoption of open science practices. Researchers can share analytical methods, reproduce research findings, and publish complete experimental setups, ensuring transparency and reproducibility in marine science. Data sharing is a core function, with a substantial amount of data exchanged, including peaks reaching 10 TB in a single month, illustrating the platform's capacity for handling large datasets. Furthermore, the high number of working sessions, averaging 2,870 per month and peaking at over 5,450, underscores the community's active engagement.
Blue-Cloud work towards optimisation of the web services and content of marine Research Infrastructures (RIs) has also progressed considerably over the course of 2024. The federation of BDIs as part of the Data Discovery & Access Service has been expanded with the following RIs: EMSO, ELIXIR-MGnify, SIOS, and EMODnet Physics, bringing the total number of federated BDIs at 13. The DD&AS provides an internal data gateway on the Blue-Cloud VRE which makes an easy and efficient data provision for users of Blue-Cloud VLabs and WorkBenches. In addition, great progress is being made with optimising content and streamlining web services, including semantic interoperability, supported by controlled vocabularies, for several of the 13 federated BDIs. In addition, it will facilitate later uptake of selected RIs as part of EMODnet, namely those which are not yet connected. ICOS-Marine, SIOS, SOCAT, ELIXIR-ENA and MGnify are potential candidates. The internal data provision has been expanded with the configuration and deployment of multiple data lakes set up for data collections from selected BDIs and also the international World Ocean Database (WOD) to provide powerful data sub-setting and slicing functionality, which is very useful for VLabs and the WorkBenches next to the services of the DD&AS.
Blue-Cloud work towards optimisation of the web services and content of marine Research Infrastructures (RIs) has also progressed considerably over the course of 2024. The federation of BDIs as part of the Data Discovery & Access Service has been expanded with the following RIs: EMSO, ELIXIR-MGnify, SIOS, and EMODnet Physics, bringing the total number of federated BDIs at 13. The DD&AS provides an internal data gateway on the Blue-Cloud VRE which makes an easy and efficient data provision for users of Blue-Cloud VLabs and WorkBenches. In addition, great progress is being made with optimising content and streamlining web services, including semantic interoperability, supported by controlled vocabularies, for several of the 13 federated BDIs. In addition, it will facilitate later uptake of selected RIs as part of EMODnet, namely those which are not yet connected. ICOS-Marine, SIOS, SOCAT, ELIXIR-ENA and MGnify are potential candidates. The internal data provision has been expanded with the configuration and deployment of multiple data lakes set up for data collections from selected BDIs and also the international World Ocean Database (WOD) to provide powerful data sub-setting and slicing functionality, which is very useful for VLabs and the WorkBenches next to the services of the DD&AS.
The VLabs developed in Blue-Cloud cover a set of marine multidisciplinary data from “blue” data infrastructures (BDIs) and other marine Research Infrastructures (RIs), like the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observatories (JERICO). These data may be from different types and origins and are usually not gathered (coastal and open sea data, plankton, hydrodynamics and fisheries data). The VLabs innovative services, in the form of data products and/or analytical tools, demonstrate the added-value of web-based open science as promoted by the European Ocean Science Cloud (EOSC).
Additionally, the VLabs have actively worked on identifying target users, enhancing dissemination strategies to extend beyond the Blue-Cloud 2026 Consortium, and improving the findability and usability of data products. These efforts aim to ensure the project delivers broad, impactful outcomes that foster cross-border collaboration and provide robust tools for ocean and water restoration across Europe.
With respect to specific impact of the workbenches, CEPHALOPOD is already being applied in the EU sister projects AtlantECO and BiOceans5D to explore zooplankton functional traits, plankton diversity across variance axes, nitrogen metabolism in bacterial plankton, and global bacterial diversity, for which peer-reviewed publications are in preparation. Different scientific projects are currently using the CEPHALOPOD Species distribution modelling pipeline developed by WB3.
Additionally, the VLabs have actively worked on identifying target users, enhancing dissemination strategies to extend beyond the Blue-Cloud 2026 Consortium, and improving the findability and usability of data products. These efforts aim to ensure the project delivers broad, impactful outcomes that foster cross-border collaboration and provide robust tools for ocean and water restoration across Europe.
With respect to specific impact of the workbenches, CEPHALOPOD is already being applied in the EU sister projects AtlantECO and BiOceans5D to explore zooplankton functional traits, plankton diversity across variance axes, nitrogen metabolism in bacterial plankton, and global bacterial diversity, for which peer-reviewed publications are in preparation. Different scientific projects are currently using the CEPHALOPOD Species distribution modelling pipeline developed by WB3.