OCRE builds on HNSciCloud, the GÉANT cloud tender and GÉANT Trust and Identity activities. Deliverable 1.1. describes this baseline situation (a reference description of the foundation where OCRE builds upon) in more detail. OCRE builds on this baseline through a range of new elements:
• New / more cloud and EO service types. HNSciCloud and the GÉANT tender were about IaaS. OCRE moves beyond IaaS and plans to add the other two cloud service types: SaaS and PaaS, as well as EO-specific services. This will increase the available services.
• New delivery models:
○ A co-funding model for commodity services, combining EC adoption funds with customers’ financial contributions to motivate uptake;
○ Cloud credits made available to users and institutions in the form of vouchers.
• Increases in upfront user commitment from buyers and buyer-groups; first used in HNSciCloud and now to be scaled up through OCRE;
• Putting in place the required business, legal and technical solutions to facilitate and manage the aforementioned items at scale.
The expected impact of OCRE is as follows:
Impact 1: Drive the adoption of commercial digital services
OCRE aims to have a direct impact on the core of the European Open Science Cloud: to drive adoption of Type A and Type B commercial digital services; to provide the right conditions of use and facilitate usage of these services at large.
Impact 2: Establish and validate a procurement framework for EOSC as a cost-effective commodity service delivery vehicle
Impact 3: Make practical the deployment of several business models, enabling research communities at large to access commercial cloud services and move from a “grant-based” to a “customer-based” approach.
Impact 4: Create a production-ready services environment, bringing together public e-infrastructures and commercial service providers.
OCRE establishes the links between both the private and public sector by inducing adoption, stimulating innovation and creating new markets.
Impact 5: Create added value chains for the DIAS resources back-ends
The Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS), launched in May 2017 to facilitate access to Copernicus data and information from the Copernicus services. It puts OCRE in a pioneering position, as the DIAS platforms are only just beginning to ramp-up their services, on top of which value-added EO offerings can be established.
Impact 6: Demonstrate a working interoperability between commodity and Copernicus DIAS value thematic services with the EOSC-hub
Impact 7: Make a wide range of services available, to be used by the research community. As a part of the Digital Single Market Strategy OCRE wants to provide the European research community with easier access to commercially available digital services, by offering an attractive service portfolio, which meets the needs of the community.
These efforts will lower access barriers for the scientific community to commercial services, including DIAS-supported added value services, and enhance industry’s potential to take advantage of scientific market opportunities.
Its integrated set of activities will allow OCRE to decisively contribute to the establishment of a single market for digital services for the European Research community and the European Open Science Cloud.
