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e-IRG virtual Workshop, 1-2 December 2020 under the German EU-Presidency

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Paolo Budroni
e-IRG Chair
Dr. Paolo Budroni is member of permanent staff of the University of Vienna (since 1991), and currently on a long-term sabbatical. Since September 2019 he is member of staff of TU Wien Library and is in charge of International Projects. Paolo Budroni holds a PhD in Philosophy, Art History, and Romance Philology (University of Vienna), and has worked in the field of architecture of research information systems and knowledge management for the last 29 years. In 1988, he completed his education degree in Foreign Trade at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). He also holds a postgraduate degree in European Integration for Public Administration, received at the Austrian Federal European Academy in 1996. 2002 – 2004 he was professor for marketing at the graduate level at the Università degli Studi di Perugia (Scienze della Comunicazione). o Chair of the E-Infrastructure Reflection Group (E-IRG) and Austrian National Delegate o Member of board of the Austrian RDA National Node o Member of the H2020 Project EOSC Secretariat, serving in Sub Task Researchers Engagement His long-term involvement in digital asset management and the provision of aligned services in the scientific community have provided him with a thorough knowledge of technical systems and the requirements of the academic world. Paolo Budroni has led as Managing Director the development of the digital archiving system for RDM of the University of Vienna, which also serves as Institutional Repository of the University (Phaidra, 2007- 2016) and is implemented at 17 institutions in 5 European countries.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Martina Fromhold-Eisebit Prof.
RWTH Aachen, Head of the Chair of Economic Geography, Managing Director of the Department of Geography
Martina Fromhold-Eisebith is full professor at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, where she holds the Chair of Economic Geography since 2006. From 2016 to 2020 she was an ap-pointed member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). Earlier in her career she was professor of regional development and planning at the University of Salzburg, Austria, guest scientist at the Austrian Research Centers, Vienna, and senior researcher at several German universities. Her research interests cover issues of technology-oriented re-gional development and of environmental economic geography, focusing on how innovations and ‘smart' solutions can support more sustainable industries and socio-economic develop-ment. Empirical research activities have covered European as well as Asian countries.
Abstract
In 2019, the German Advisory Council on Global Change WBGU launched its Flagship Report ‘Towards our Common Digital Future'. This science-for-policy study advocates that only if digi-tal change and the transformation towards sustainability are constructively combined, mankind will be able to make progress in terms of climate-change mitigation, earth-system protection and human development, also protecting human dignity. Without formative political action, digital change risks further increasing resource consumption and environmental harm. Fur-thermore, uncontrolled digital change threatens to undermine important foundations of socie-ties and democracies. The presentation outlines major cornerstones of the report and sets a focus on how sustainability objectives could and should be promoted in the area of e-infrastructures. [** The WBGU flagship report Towards our Common Digital Future. (See link to website in the "additional info" below) **]
Additional Info
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Francoise Genova
e-IRG delegate, France
Françoise Genova has been the director of the Strasbourg astronomical data centre CDS from 1995 to 2015, and one of the founding parents of the astronomical Virtual Observatory project. She has been the coordinator of several European projects dealing with the European Virtual Observatory. She currently leads the "Data Access, Discovery and Interoperability" Work Package of the European ASTERICS astronomy Cluster, which aims at optimizing the usage of the data from the astronomical large projects through the Virtual Observatory. She is one of the French Delegates at the e-IRG. She was a member of the High Level Expert Group on Scientific Data set up by the European Commission in 2010, and one author of the "Riding the wave" report published in October 2010 and of its follow-up "Data Harvest" report, and is currently a member of the EC Expert Group on Turning FAIR data into reality. She is an active member of the RDA, in particular as member of the RDA Technical Advisory Board (co-chair since October 2015), and of the RDA Europe 1-3 projects. She is in charge of the RDA-France National Node in the RDA Europe 4.0 project.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Andrea Herdegen
German e-IRG Delegate / deputy head of the unit "Research data" Ministry of Education and Research
Andrea Herdegen has joined the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 1998. Currently she is deputy head of the unit "Research data". Previous responsibilities in the Ministry include "Digital Transformation Policy Issues", and international exchanges in higher education. Between 2011 and 2015 she worked as education councillor in the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU in Brussels. Andrea is a delegate in e-IRG and a member of the EOSC governance boards. She graduated in economics and English literature after studies in Bonn, Germany, and Lancaster, United Kingdom.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Sarah Jones
GÉANT
Sarah Jones is the EOSC Engagement Manager at GÉANT, where she works with NRENs on supporting Open Science. Previously she worked as Associate Director at the Digital Curation Centre. She has been involved in several European Commission funded projects such as EUDAT, OpenAIRE and FAIRsFAIR, work on Expert Groups for FAIR data and a Transport Research Cloud, and was an independent expert on the EOSC Executive Board. For RDA she is co-Chair of two Groups: - Active Data Management Plans Interest Group - Global Open Research Commons Interest Group.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Hans-Josef Linkens
German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
Hans-Josef Linkens is Head of Division 421, Research Data, at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This division is responsible for research information infrastructures and respective national initiatives. He is a co-chair of the EOSC Governance Board, a member of the German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures and he is active in various working groups about the digital transformation in science. He achieved his doctor´s degree in biochemistry.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Robert Lovas
SZTAKI (Institute for Computer Science and Control), Hungary
Robert Lovas, PhD habil. is the Deputy Director at Institute for Computer Science and Control (SZTAKI), and associate professor at Obuda University. His main research topics include cloud computing, Big Data/IoT/AI applications and platforms. His solid, 20-year experience in wide range of R&D&I fields of numerical meteorological modeling, bioinformatics, agriculture, connected cars, and Industry 4.0 has been gained in various global, European and national ICT collaborations with academic organizations, universities, and enterprises. He has been coordinating or contributing to several national and European (FP4-H2020) research, innovation and e-infrastructure projects, including FP7 DEGISCO, H2020 CO-VERSATILE and ELKH Cloud.
Abstract
The CO-VERSATILE project is launched by 21 partners from across Europe to boost manufacturing responsiveness to counteract the shortage of vital medical equipment and protect caregivers and citizens. The consortium joined forces to innovate and deploy concepts for repurposing and scaling up flexible and sustainable production methods and supply chain solutions to rapidly address Europe's demand for essential medical equipment and supplies. To facilitate the re-orientation and repurposing of the production capacities, the project has been developing a cloud-based platform called ‘Digital Technopole' – a commercial marketplace that aims at quickly assisting manufacturing firms with readily available solutions including software tools/services, manufacturing capacity and training services.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Ivan Maric
Ivan Maric is from the University of Zagreb Computing Centre (SRCE) in Croatia. Ivan Maric wears many hats. He is engaged in the European Open Science Cloud Governance Board, he is the Croatian delegate in the Programme Committee for Horizon 2020 and Croatian representative in the Programme Committee for Research Infrastructures. Ivan Maric is also involved in the EuroHPC activity. For 15 to 20 years, he was member in the board of GÉANT and other e-Infrastructures in the Pan-European ecosystem. Indeed, Ivan Maric has many responsibilities as a Delegate of the Croatian Member State. He is the Croatian e-IRG delegate of the European e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG)
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

David Moorman
U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities
David Moorman is recently appointed Senior Policy Advisor to the Executive Director at the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, David Moorman is a science policy expert with over twenty years of experience working for Government of Canada research granting agencies, including positions as the Director, Policy and Planning and Senior Advisor at the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Senior Policy Advisor at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Dr. Moorman has extensive experience developing and implementing S&T policies. As the CFI's Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement, Dr. Moorman assisted with the development and planning of new research infrastructure support programs and related policies. Dr. Moorman was specifically responsible for the drafting of strategic plans, conducting community consultations, developing implementation strategies, as well as drafting corporate plans, and a variety of policy statements. He also advised the CFI senior management team on broader S&T policy issues, recent developments in science and new directions in research funding programs, both domestic and international. Dr. Moorman represented the CFI in various fora, both domestic and international, and organized a number of conferences, workshops, and consultations. Dr. Moorman holds a Ph.D in Canadian History from the University of Ottawa. He has extensive experience in international S&T affairs, including working with the OECD, various national research support agencies and with the European Commission on common issues related to science policy and research support programs.
Abstract
Sustaining research data infrastructures is crucial for today's research enterprise if they are to contribute to addressing societal challenges. And while they face many of the same sustainability risks as other forms of research infrastructure, they also face some that are unique and particularly difficult to overcome. Creating national institutional structures and operational models often requires a political dimension that calls for compromise and competition for resources. Data regulations and evolving policies introduce complications and seemingly insurmountable barriers to access and interoperability, and the contending forces of technological depreciation and innovation create a rapidly changing ecosystem where the ability to meet the needs of researchers is a constant struggle. This address will explore some of these risks, specifically in the Canadian context, where the dynamics of politics, regulation and technological change have shape Canada's digital infrastructure strategy and its effectiveness in managing, curating and providing access to vital research data resources.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Tuuli Ojala
Finnish Ministry for Transport and Communication
Tuuli Ojala is a Senior Specialist at the Climate and Environment Unit of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Finland. She manages the preparation of climate and environment strategy for the ICT-sector in Finland, a cooperative effort between a wide range of stakeholders representing administration, companies, academia and non-governmental organizations. Tuuli Ojala's experience include working as environmental expert in various public and private cooperation bodies, such as climate and environmental cooperation in the Arctic region, global conventions for protection of endangered species of fauna and flora as well as international projects for enhanced waste water management. One sentence: ICT provides great opportunities for the green transformation of societies, but we also need to take into account the environmental footprint associated with the energy and material use of the sector.
Abstract
The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has led a working group preparing a climate and environmental strategy for the ICT sector in Finland. The working group has issued two reports: a mid-term report will be published in June 2020 and the final report including recommendations for action in November 2020. The presentation will focus on findings of these reports. (See link to website in the "additional info" below)
Additional Info
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Fabian Prasser
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health
Fabian Prasser is Professor of Medical Informatics at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health where he heads the Medical Informatics Group. His research group works on the design of data sharing infrastructures, big data architectures for translational medicine and related data protection challenges.
Abstract
Innovative concepts are needed to provide data at the rapid pace required in a pandemic while protecting the privacy of individuals. In this talk I will present a multi-layered anonymization strategy implemented by the Lean Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (LEOSS) to allow data on the course of COVID-19 infections to be shared as easily and openly as possible while strictly preserving patient privacy. Our approach follows requirements laid out in multiple guidelines using a combination of qualitative and quantitative risk assessments and anonymization techniques. The privacy protection methods implemented are based on the principle of "hiding in the crowd". This means that the privacy of patients is protected by making sure that their data does not differ significantly from the data about a larger group of individuals. Our evaluation showed that this approach is practical and, as of September 2020, only data of 0.64% of the cases documented needs to be modified to strongly protect the privacy of patients in the shared datasets.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Konstantinos Repanas
EC Directorate-General Research and Innovation (DG RTD) Open Science Unit
Kostas Repanas is a policy officer at the Open Science Unit, in the Directorate General Research and Innovation (DG RTD) of the European Commission. Kostas is mainly involved in the data and interoperability aspects of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), as well as in advancing the Open Science agenda of the Commission. He is a long-standing advocate for Open Access, Open Data and Open Science, having previously worked for EMBL Heidelberg, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A-STAR) in Singapore, and the EU ESFRI landmark project ELIXIR. Kostas is also the co-founder of the Asian Open Access community (Asia OA) in collaboration with the National Institute of Informatics (NII-Japan) and the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR). He holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Crystallography from the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam and the Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
Abstract
When responding to a health crisis, data play a critical role in understanding transmission and infection, and in identifying drug targets, vaccines or disease-related symptoms. The European COVID-19 Data Platform, one of the priorities in the Commission's ERAvsCORONA action plan, builds upon strong foundations, bringing together established data infrastructure from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), coordinated standards and best practices from ELIXIR and leveraging investments from research infrastructures and infectious disease-specific projects of Horizon 2020. The platform was kick-started as a priority pilot of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and is fully embedded within its ecosystem.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Stelios Sartzetakis
GRNET
Stelios Sartzetakis has more than thirty years' experience of academic research, government policy work, and independent consultancy in ICT, especially broadband networks and converged telecommunications and media services. He headed the telecommunications and networks laboratory of ICS-FORTH participating in various research and managerial positions in dozens of international and national research projects. He was principal in the creation of FORTHnet, the first Internet Service Provider in Greece back in 1990, and visiting professor at the Dept. of Computer Science of the University of Crete. He served as the national representative for the program "Structuring the European Research Area" responsible for e-Infrastructures, and chairman of the scientific committee of the Greek Broadband Task Force that issued the national broadband strategy. Sartzetakis is currently research director at the Information Management Systems Institute of the Athena Research and Innovation Center, and strategy consultant at GRNET, the National Research and Education Network of Greece. His research interests include cloud based large data processing, storage and network programming systems.
Abstract
ELIXIR, the European life-science infrastructure for biological information, is a unique and unprecedented initiative that consolidates Europe's national centres, services, and core bioinformatics resources into a single, coordinated infrastructure. ELIXIR brings together Europe's major life-science data archives and, for the first time, connects these with national bioinformatics infrastructures throughout ELIXIR's member states. ELIXIR sets the example for many other scientific fields with similar demands in terms of compute and storage infrastructures and as such GRNET, the Green National research and academic network supports its deployment and operations. ELIXIR-GR compute infrastructure, following international standards, implements GA4GH's Task and Workflow execution services. Providing endpoints to these services enables the federation with similar infrastructures in other nodes across EU. The node hosts the local European Genome Archive, and will support the compute and storage needs of personalized medicine and Epidemiological Study Of SARS-CoV-2 national flagship actions.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Chris Schubert
Data Centre at Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA)
Chris Schubert, Head of Data Centre at Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) and Coordinator for the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) for Austria, has more than 15 years professional experiences for data infrastructure and interoperable data services. In 2004 he stepped into the domain of ontologies and was responsible for research projects for web-based semantic interoperable services and vocabularies. He worked at the European Commission, DG JRC for the EU INSPIRE directive and moved in 2015 to Vienna to set up the CCCA Data Centre as part of Research Data Infrastructure for the climatological scientific domain. He is quite active within RDA at the Data Citation WG and currently elected as sub-group leader for Data Management in the framework of the GEO-Working Program.
Abstract
The European Green Deal covers the European Strategy for Data to become an attractive and dynamic data ecosystem in support of the priority actions e.g. on climate change, biodiversity, deforestation, etc. Initiatives like "GreenData4All" and ‘Destination Earth' (digital twin of the Earth) will cover concrete actions. European legislation on open data and the re-use of public sector information or INSPIRE are just examples to accelerate the availability of interoperable service. While interoperability between data spaces as key is essential for collaborative commons and to extract tailored information. By increasing of daily data volume, data infrastructure especially for research needs adaptation mechanism to tackle a permanent grow and demand. Transnational access to advanced research data infrastructures and reproducible methods on data analytics enable the acceleration towards digital transition to facilitate evidence-based decisions. A short introduction to EU directives which deals with data access, interoperability and infrastructure will be given, combined with ongoing technological activities like Open Data Cube for Earth Observation Data which can be demonstrate a holistic approach ready to up-scaling from local to international level.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Philippe Segers
GENCI, France
Philippe Segers Head of European High Performance Computing (HPC) projects for GENCI, the French HPC agency, where he manage the contribution of the French partners (CEA/CNRS/University and Inria) to the PRACE projects, member of PRACE Technical Board and Management Board, and he was work-package leader of the PRACE Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) on "Whole System Design for Energy Efficient HPC" (procurement of R&D for Finish, French, German, Italian and UK partners). He is also involved in other PRACE project, co-leading the work-package in charge of the Organization of the Research Infrastructure, where he oversee KPI and Stakeholder Management, and co-representing PRACE on the European Open Science Cloud (EOSCpilot) project on the Governance work-package. He is also member of the Management Board of the Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) on HPC (procurement of French, German, Italian and Spanish HPC innovative systems) PPI4HPC. He holds an Executive MBA and has an academic background in Numerical modelling of Theoretical Physics. He began his career in Canada, working in Data Assimilation for Meteorology, with grant from MIT and UQAM, and at Ispra, Italy, for the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, on Climate Sciences, moved to the scientific software industry, on pollution modelling, then to hardware industry and spent twenty years of Program Management of R&D demonstration and prototypes for various EC and NATO projects.
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Carthage Smith
OECD, Global Science Forum
Carthage Smith joined the OECD as head of the Global Science Forum (GSF) Secretariat in June 2014. He is responsible for working with national members to define the overall strategy and priorities for the Forum. This includes policy work on research infrastructures, Open Science, research funding mechanisms and science advisory processes. Carthage was originally trained as a biochemist, with a PhD in neuroscience (Newcastle University, UK). Prior to joining the GSF secretariat, he was Deputy Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU, Paris) for twelve years. In this position he led the strategic development of a number of major global science initiatives. Before moving to France, he spent six years at the UK Medical Research Council, where he was Head of International Cooperation.
Abstract
Carthage Smith will present recent work from that has been carried out by the OECD Global Science Forum and international partners on policies for enhancing access to research data. There are a diversity of actors in the research ecosystem, from individuals to institutions, and all have a role to play in making data FAIR. There is a need for both mandates and incentives (including funding) and these need to be applied strategically and coherently.
Additional Info
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12

Gabriele von Voigt
Prof. Dr. Gabriele von Voigt is Professor at Leibniz University Hanover (LUH) where she leads the institute Computational Health Informatics. Her Ph.D. was on the design of user interfaces for medical workstations and her Habilitation was dedicated to the application of virtual reality within medicine. Apart from employments as a lecturer, project member and project leader in various areas of Computer Science, she worked as the head of information services, was the project leader for the installation of SAP in a University Hospital, and run the computing centre of LUH. She is one of the German Delegates of the European e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG).
Presenter at workshop: 2020-12