1. Dilemmas for sustainability
Magchiel Bijsterbosch,
EOSC-hub week , 11 April 2019, Prague

2. EOSC sustainability Understand EOSC drivers Data and services
The commons challenge
Sustainability beyond the cash
Instruments
Diverse set, ranging from Open Science ambitions to industrial politics
Interweaved, but separate economies
Openness or free-at-the-point of the user, federating core and long term preservation
Partnerships and visibility in an a system adopting market thinking and a repositioning of government intervention
Information, accountability, transaction systems and governance arrangements
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

3. Understand EOSC drivers
Diverse set, ranging from Open Science ambitions to industrial politics
Open Science policy: giving Europe a competitive advantage through open access data
Industrial politics: utilise public sector force to counterbalance US and Chinese cloud service industry
Users in the driver’s seat, with transaction- based funding as the most straightforward KPI
Increase efficiency by reducing fragmentation
Post-New public management thinking
Single digital market agenda and Four Freedoms
SDI:
I Access to online products and services
II Conditions for digital networks and services to grow and thrive
III Growth of the European digital economy
Four Freedoms Free movement of Peope, Money, Goods and Services
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

4. Data and services Interweaved, but separate economies
Electronic services are perishable and rivalrous
Value chain is fairly straight forward with a symmetrical distribution of transaction and value.
Infrastructures are build-up through capital funding and federated through a combination of GDP-based contributions and EC funding
Data can be considered as a product from research investments
The use of data is inherently non-rivalrous
Data economy is often based on value added services (e.g. tooling or methods for analytics, enrichment) or two-sided market models
Value of data is increased through network effects.
Data lives and is processed on electronic services, potentially part of (research) infrastructures.
Technological advancement raises the marginal production rate and Information technologies speed up the codification of knowledge based on this data.
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

5. The commons challenge
Openness or free-at-the-point of the user, federating core and long term preservation
Data under Open Access is non- excludable, classifying it as a public good
Scarcity of supply-oriented funding associated with services free-at-the- point-of-the-user push the service to a common-pool-resource
Supporting services e.g. federating core are prone to free-rider behaviour
Long-term preservation requires custodian institutions to balance preservation decisions with active research budgets
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

6. Sustainability beyond the cash
Partnerships and visibility in an a system adopting market thinking and a repositioning of government intervention
Many collaborations are based on a notion of partnership and trust. A transactional mentality may not be adequate here.
Political support for supply-oriented funding depended on visibility of impact
Funders require stronger indicators evidence of value- for-money
Ambition in governments to reduce dependency of supply-oriented funding for structural activities
Adoption of private sector techniques to drive efficiency in public sector
Solidarity question between Member States to allow yield of national investments outside borders
Fundamental discussion in Europe on the extend of interventions at the Federal level
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

7. Instruments
Information, accountability, transaction systems and governance arrangements
Ensuring a level playing field
Catalogue to lift information asymmetry between users and services providers on warrantees
Rules of Participation should govern public and private sector: predatory pricing, state aid, …
Transaction mechanisms fit for maturity level of supply and demand side
Institutions to deal with common pool resources and conflict
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

8. Dilemma 1
“A demand-oriented funding model puts the user in the driver’s seat allowing for allocative efficiency, …
while
…the potential demand failure doesn’t allow for long-term planning for full productive efficiency and increases registration costs.”
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

9. Dilemma 2
“Commercial providers may provide services more efficiently, …
while
…full freedom of choice may ultimate erode publicly funded infrastructure.”
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

10. Dilemma 3
“Instruments at the Federal level (portals, non-monetary based transaction systems) may catalyse convergence in EOSC, …
while
…the imposed changes may obscure and frustrate the underpinning infrastructures.”
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

11. Dilemma 4
“Cloud coins or vouchers may help to simplify transaction in cases where capabilities to support financial transactions are not in place
while
…it requires a duplication of systems e.g. allocation of funds, exchange rates, accounting, reimbursement, audit frameworks, … .”
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

12. Recommendations
Follow the organisational structure of research and digital infrastructures: utilise subsidiarity by default.
Make institutional commitments at the Member State-level for supply oriented funding models explicit and visible.
Stimulate demand-oriented funding models with symmetrical value transactions for easier transcending organisational, national and disciplinary boundaries.
Don’t replicate the financial markets to support transactions: default to Euro, while keeping registration costs to the minimum by supply oriented funding level. Vouchers-like systems can be an intermediary step.
Preserve the culture and values in academia while introducing private sector techniques: keep room for partnerships that have trust, go beyond of what is and accept risks.
Ensure through Rules of Participation that demand-oriented funding cannot erode the public infrastructure through market imperfections.
Tackle collective action problems by designing institutions in such a way that they deal with common-pool- resource-problems.
Fund structural activities through structural instruments, e.g. tender operational infrastructures instead of through project calls.
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no

13. Thank you!
The European Open Science Cloud for Research pilot project is funded by the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation under contract no