Enhancing European Digital Preservation and Curation
The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is an ambitious European initiative that aims to give the EU a global lead in research data management and ensure that European scientists enjoy the full benefits of data-driven science. Two new EU-funded projects, EOSC EDEN and FIDELIS, started 1 January 2025 bringing over 30 European and international organisations together to advance digital preservation and curation in Europe.
The projects will contribute to the EOSC endeavor by advancing and harmonising digital preservation and data curation practices and services in Europe, upskilling the key actors in the area and consolidating the position of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories in Europe.
FIDELIS - Establishing A European Network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories
The FIDELIS project (grant agreement nr. 101188078) will harmonise the definition of what makes a digital repository trustworthy in the context of the EOSC and provide a framework for repositories to support each other not only in becoming but remaining trustworthy and FAIR-enabling (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) over time.
Early in the project lifecycle, FIDELIS will establish a European network of FAIR-enabling trustworthy digital repositories that will live on after the project finishes and represent its member repositories to key stakeholders on important matters (e.g. policies and funding). Furthermore, FIDELIS project will upskill repositories and expand the emerging network through an active training, engagement and support programme that includes cascading grants for repositories to implement the solutions delivered by the project.
“FIDELIS represents a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term sustainability and trustworthiness of digital repositories within the European Open Science Cloud. By harmonising standards, fostering interoperability, and building a resilient network of trusted repositories, FIDELIS will lay a solid foundation for preserving Europe’s research data assets for generations to come. This initiative not only strengthens EOSC’s capacity to support data-driven science but also advances open science practices on a European and global scale,” says Damien Lecarpentier, FIDELIS Project Coordinator and Director of International Collaboration and Partnerships Unit at CSC.
The FIDELIS consortium is composed of 24 organisations from across Europe that cover generic digital repositories at national level in Finland, France, Norway, and Serbia and discipline-specific repositories from Social Sciences and Humanities, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Physical Sciences. Several FIDELIS partners offer expertise in research outreach, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and policy making.
EOSC EDEN – Enhancing Digital Preservation Strategies at European and National Level
The EOSC EDEN project (grant agreement nr.101188015) will create a framework to identify what data are candidates for digital preservation based on the assessment of the usage of data and its quality and benefits to science and society. It will also develop a model for re-appraisal of data and test its usability with relevant communities and develop tools and services to automate certain preservation actions. EOSC EDEN training and outreach activities aim at engaging relevant communities in testing and validating the project outcomes and raising awareness for the benefits of digital preservation and temporal aspects of FAIR data.
“EOSC EDEN has the opportunity to become the reference point in Europe for digital preservation and curation practices. Different communities and scientific disciplines tend to have their own data quality standards, curation procedures and digital preservation methodologies. Our mission is to understand the current landscape, identify common standards and practices, and provide solutions and new approaches that help institutions in selecting and preserving high-quality FAIR research outputs. All this will also help to reduce the costs of preservation and increase the future re-usability of data,” says Anu Märkälä, EOSC EDEN Coordinator and Project Manager, CSC.
The EOSC EDEN consortium is composed of 16 organisations that have expertise in digital preservation, data quality, curation and FAIR data management and services. The consortium also includes representatives from seven scientific disciplines: Climate Simulations, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Food Sciences, High-Energy Physics, Life Sciences and Bioinformatics, Linguistics, and Social Sciences, as well as partners representing some of the most prominent global networks active in digital preservation.
Two projects, a common goal
EOSC EDEN and FIDELIS have been crafted to be complementary to each other. They will feed each other with regards to collecting user requirements for digital preservation and FAIR-enabling frameworks and services that will support the establishment of a European distributed infrastructure for digital preservation, curation, and access in Europe. Their engagement activities towards key stakeholders, such as repositories, archives, and expert data curators, will support the adoption of the projects´results, strengthen the necessary know-how in Europe and contribute to the establishment and further development of a European Network of FAIR-enabling Trustworthy Digital Repositories.
The collaboration is facilitated by six partners (DANS, UiT, UESSEX, DKRZ, UBEMEN, SIB) that, in addition to the coordinator, are involved in both projects.
Both projects are coordinated by CSC – IT Center for Science and they will run from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027.