European e-Infrastructures Assembly meeting in Amsterdam strengthens collaboration between EGI, EUDAT, GÉANT, OpenAIRE, and PRACE

Organised at the GÉANT offices in Amsterdam and introduced by GÉANT’s CEO Lise Fuhr, the meeting brought together executive leadership with strategic and technical focus to reinforce the collaboration of European e-Infrastructures into a united front for the advancement of European research, education, and innovation.

Forging stronger ties

Nine months on from the formal establishment of the European e-Infrastructures Assembly, the meeting presented an occasion to measure the progress of the collaboration against the objectives set out in the Assembly’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Discussions covered advancements made around joint advocacy, coordination and alignment in areas of common interest, collaboration around service innovation, promotion of Open Science, policy, and community engagement.

Attendees also reflected on the value of joint participation at major community events. Since its inception, Assembly members have co-organised exhibition booths and joint sessions, starting with EGI 2024 (Lecce) and the EUDAT Conference 2024 (Karlsruhe), and more recently EGI 2025 (Santander) and TNC25 (Brighton). These activities helped to reinforce bonds between communities, present unified messaging, engage neighbouring user groups across e-infrastructures, promote mutual understanding and exchange ideas.

Looking ahead and based on these successful experiences, the Assembly now plans to extend this joint presence to other relevant conferences dedicated to research and innovation, including the upcoming Open Science Fair 2025 co-organised by OpenAIRE and the CERN Open Science Office in Geneva, with the fitting theme “Fusing Forces – Accelerating Open Science through Collaboration”.

Harmonising strategies and efforts

The meeting also served as a timely forum to compare strategic directions, particularly with most Assembly members currently going through the process of revisiting or redefining their respective strategies. Alignment and coordination at this stage were recognised as crucial, given that e-Infrastructures serve largely overlapping user communities, operate within a common funding and policy landscape, share part of their membership, and are often jointly involved in major European initiatives and projects.

Discussions on the landscape extended into collaboration and interaction with the European Commission and other key stakeholders and forums such as ESFRI, e-IRG and EuroHPC. Additionally, engagement with EOSC was covered in further detail, due to the direct involvement of Assembly members in the delivery of the EOSC EU Node and to their support of emerging EOSC Nodes through their offering of services, solutions, and expertise, as described in a recently published joint paper.

The Assembly also took the opportunity to reflect on their combined service portfolio – which currently spans an extensive range of areas across every stage of the research lifecycle – with the objective to identify potential gaps and research needs still to be addressed or complemented Particular focus was placed around collaboration on federating capabilities and on AAI development, an area in which GÉANT and EGI are already actively advancing together, notably through their work on the EOSC AAI Architecture as well as in the AARC Community and AARC TREE project.

Beyond their collective mission of empowering European research and education, the group reaffirmed the foundational role of e-Infrastructures in support of European sovereignty, by providing trusted, pan-European infrastructure and services that safeguard European control, governance and alignment with European values.

Common challenges and priorities

Throughout the meeting, the group examined several common challenges, particularly in relation to transnational access to European Research Infrastructures, structural complexities faced by cross-border organisations, the need to address in parallel both the top-down priorities and the bottom-up needs of the shared user base.

The Assembly ultimately underscored the importance of continuing to highlight and clearly communicate the collective impact of European e-Infrastructures, both at a national and pan-European level. At the heart of the meeting was the recognition that the combined value of European e-Infrastructures is greater than the sum of their parts and that raising visibility and acknowledgement of their fundamental role in IT for research should remain a priority.

Looking ahead

Participants left the meeting energised and with increased commitment to deepen the collaboration, having tackled both immediate actions and longer-term alignment. Meeting in person strengthened connections and trust, allowed for better understanding, and confirmed the Assembly’s role as a valuable forum to drive collective progress.

Looking forward, the Assembly is now eager to continue its work through regular online meetings and by reconvening in person later this year.