JRC research infrastructures – 4 calls to access nuclear research infrastructures

Following the publication in April of the JRC report on “Open access to JRC research infrastructures”, the JRC has now opened 4 calls to access its research infrastructures for nuclear reaction and decay data measurements in Geel (Belgium). Such measurements help to make nuclear reactors and the handling of nuclear waste safer, and enhance radiological protection for citizens and the environment. The calls are addressed to external users, including RTOs. The calls are open until 15 September. More information is available here.

Agri-Food TEF survey and workshop material

Following the 21 June Agri-Food TEF workshop, DG CONNECT shared the presentations made on that day. We have uploaded them on the Private Area (EU R&I policies> Digital transition> TEF workshops) : the general presentation here, and the contributions by Stefan Stiene, the one by Kees Lokhorste, and that by Raffaele Giuffreda. The EC also opened this survey that will help them to draft the call text. Your inputs to the survey are welcome until 6 August.

Venture capital fund to finance tech start-ups

Venture capital firm OTB Ventures is set to invest €50 million in early-stage technology companies with R&D components. The fund, which will finance the growth of 15 companies in fields such as cybersecurity, space, fintech and robotic automation, is backed by the European Investment Fund’s pilot programme for encouraging venture funds to secure follow-on investments for companies in their portfolio.

Public private partnership for the EU Open Science Cloud

The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) will get an injection of €22 billion in the next decade to continue its mission of improving the storage, sharing and reuse of research data across borders and scientific disciplines. A new public private partnership will beef up investments and put research organisations, funding agencies, service providers and other stakeholders, providing most of the money, in the driving seat.

The aim is to give researchers access to open and robust data, which often ends up in inaccessible servers around Europe. “This partnership will pave the way for deepening open science practices in the new European Research Area and for contributing to the EU digital agenda,” said Karel Luyben, president of the European Open Science Cloud Association, the group representing public and private organisations in the partnership. “It will trigger better connections between research infrastructures and e-Infrastructures to leverage data services existing in Europe.” Read more on Science Business.

Software industry needs more EU digital sovereignty

Europe’s software industry is calling on EU governments to spur innovation through public procurement rules, saying the EU should take bolder action to secure independence from providers in the US and Asia. In Europe, US companies have become sole providers of software needed for email, office applications and cloud services. But EU companies now want to catch a ride on the new political wave of technology sovereignty to challenge that status quo.

The European Commission is relying on the broad uptake of digital services and the development of new technologies to reduce the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions and to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the EU wants to become less dependent on technologies from abroad. EU trade commissioner Thierry Breton is the Commission’s torchbearer for “open strategic autonomy”, a plan to incentivise local development and production of sensitive digital technologies such as quantum computers, microprocessors and artificial intelligence. Examples like GAIA-X and Galileo satellite navigation system are important role models, but there is still a long way to go to tackle digital sovereignty in the software development field. Read more on Science Business.

Supercomputing partnership EuroHPC gets final approval

The EU’s public-private supercomputing partnerships, EuroHPC, can now access its €7 billion pot of funding after EU member states gave their final approval to its new legislation.

The partnership between the European Commission, industry and member states, which first launched in 2018, will continue developing Europe’s supercomputing infrastructure and acquire more world-class computers but with a bigger budget at its disposal. This decision promise to contribute to the EU’s strategic autonomy, and to the goal of making Europe a world-leading actor in super computing.