A Digital Infrastructure (DI) is broadly defined as a set of information and communication technology components that are the foundation of ICT-services. These include typically physical components - computer and networking hardware and facilities - but also various software and network components.

Digital Infrastructure (DI) is broadly defined as a set of information and communication technology components that are the foundation of ICT-services. These include typically physical components - computer and networking hardware and facilities - but also various software and network components.

Digital Infrastructures are expected to boost research, growth, innovation and job creation, and it is clear that education of digital scientists and practitioners are a priority for Europe as this can effectively give people the knowledge, skills and competences to use and benefit from scientific data. Recent discussions around 5G and COVID-19 contact tracing amplify the need for European sovereignty when it comes to Digital Infrastructures and the handling of data. It is important to recognise that Digital Infrastructure control and data regulation are complementary and can be combined in various ways New report on European Digital Infrastructure and Data Sovereignty. A policy perspective (2020)
https://www.eitdigital.eu/newsroom/news/archive/article/new-report-on-european-digital-infrastructure-and-data-sovereignty/.

The European e-Infrastructure landscape includes Networking, Computing, and Data Infrastructures, on the national, regional and institutional level. The e-Infrastructure services at the European level are often being provided by federating national e-Infrastructures in a collaborative setting, and the European initiatives are therefore dependent on the existence of strong and coherent national e-Infrastructure nodesNational Nodes - Getting organised; how far are we? e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (2020)
http://e-irg.eu/catalogue/eirg-1006. To describe this ecosystem, e-IRG has introduced the concept of the e-Infrastructure Commons in its White Paper 2013e-IRG White Paper 2013. e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (2013)
http://e-irg.eu/documents/10920/11274/e-irg-white-paper-2013-final.pdf. Building on this and other notions the concept of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) has emerged.

The EUROPEAN OPEN SCIENCE CLOUD is an environment for hosting and processing research data to support European research. The EOSC gained rapidly impetus and attention with the definition of an implementation roadmap in March 2018 Implementation Roadmap for the European Open Science Cloud. Commission Staff Working Document (2018)
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/10102/2018/EN/SWD-2018-83-F1-EN-MAIN-PART-1.PDF.

The European Open Science Cloud intends to offer to the researchers a virtual environment with open and seamless services for storage, management, analysis and re-use of research data, across borders and scientific disciplines by federating existing Data Infrastructures.

EOSC is being co-created in a series of projects funded by the European Commission and initiatives from Member States (MS) and Associated Countries (AC). The contribution of MS and AC will constitute the bulk of the resources that will be made available by the contributing organisations and thus their role is of fundamental importance also in the governance of the EOSC. EU countries and countries associated with Horizon 2020, represented in the EOSC Governance Board, agreed unanimously to run the EOSC as a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe from 2021.

The EOSC AssociationEOSC Association
https://www.eosc.eu/ was established as International non-profit Association under Belgian Law (AISBL) law on 29th July 2020 with four founding members: GÉANT, CESAER, CSIC and GARR. Members and Observers of the EOSC Association include research funders, research performing organisations, Research Infrastructures, data service providers and others. As of today
the activities of the Working Groups of the EOSC Executive Board have produced several important resultsWorking Groups of the EOSC Executive Board
https://www.eoscsecretariat.eu/eosc-working-groups one of which is the document Solutions for a Sustainable EOSC - A FAIR Lady report from the EOSC Sustainability Working Group, which explored possible means for sustaining the EOSC beyond its initial phase. The launch of the European Partnership for the EOSC, in close cooperation with the Members States and the respective research communities was on the 23rd of June 2021. The new EOSC European Partnership will ensure, until at least the end of 2030, a coordinated approach from the European Commission and the stakeholders in investments and initiatives in the EOSC ecosystem with the help of the Member States and Associated Countries. An EU investment of almost €500 million and an in-kind contribution of the partners of also € 500 million are foreseen in the period 2021-2027. The aim is to improve the storing, sharing and reusing of research data across borders and scientific disciplinesLaunch ceremony of the EOSC European Partnership
https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/launch-ceremony-eosceuropean-partnership-during-ri-days-2021-2021-jun-23_en.

Since the beginning of the year 2019, five ESFRI Cluster projects – PaNOSC, ENVRI-FAIR, EOSC-Life, ESCAPE, SSHOC – have been launched to link to the European Open Science Cloud. The five ESFRI Cluster projects aim together to implement interfaces, to integrate computer and data management solutions, to create cross-border and open cooperation spaces and to promote clouds via the EOSC portal for a larger user community. As stakeholders of EOSC these projects were invited to contribute to the development and implementation process. The overall expectation of these projects is that EOSC will enable the accessibility and re-use of research data, increase scientific value of research data, and deliver an interoperable environment of Data Infrastructures. The projects expect EOSC will bring the added values of the infrastructure for sustainable use of research data and a virtual research environment enabling real-time collaboration between researchers using FAIR dataESFRI cluster projects position papers (January 2020)
https://www.fairsfair.eu/sites/default/files/ESFRI_clusters_position_on_EOSC_jan_2020_v1.pdf.