In April 2016, the European Commission announced a bold new initiative to pull European science fully into the age of the ‘cloud.’  Its €6.7 billion European Open Science Cloud plan could change the future of research, cloud services and data technologies in Europe - affecting strategies for companies, universities and governments.

But how?  To track this important initiative, Science|Business is forming a platform for companies, universities and research infrastructure. The group will meet regularly in private and public to gain intelligence and facilitate dialogue in Brussels.  Topics include:

• What ‘Rules of Engagement?’ Under what terms can private vendors, and public users, access the science cloud and the huge market – upwards of €50 billion – it can create?

• Who can play? Under what conditions can companies, universities and government agencies in the rest of the world join in?

• Who will pay? Should public research grants include budgets to buy cloud  ervices? Will labs and universities pay centrally? When corporate labs use it, will they be charged?

• What technologies will it stimulate? From artificial intelligence to quantum computing.

• How will it affect other policies? Text and data-mining? Open access publishing? Copyright? Data security and protection?

• What plan of action? It will be on the G7 agenda in 2017, and a series of milestones through 2020 are planned. What are they?

With this platform, Science|Business is bringing diverse parties together for an exchange of information and ideas.

For more information, please contact David Pringle at [email protected]

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