It is no coincidence the EUDAT Services resemble to the honeycomb. Just like in this nature's perfect grid, EUDAT Services support and connect various infrastructures, ensuring they are cohesive, efficient and allow for seamless collaboration. One of the projects EUDAT offers technical support is also Blue-Cloud 2026.
What is the Blue-Cloud 2026?
Blue-Cloud 2026 as the open science platform for maritime research aims at a further evolution of this pilot ecosystem into a Federated European Ecosystem to deliver FAIR & Open data and analytical services, instrumental for deepening research of oceans, EU seas, coastal & inland waters. It develops a thematic marine extension to EOSC for open web-based science, serving the needs of the EU Blue Economy, Marine Environment and Marine Knowledge agendas.
By working closely with long-term EU marine data services (i.e., EMODnet), and research data infrastructures (i.e., EuroArgo, SeaDataNet, Ecotaxa and others), Blue-Cloud is introducing a federated model, offering e-infrastructure services (computing, storage, analytics, SSO, AAI, generic service), a data discovery service (10M+ datasets and products from European marine infrastructures), and research intensive virtual labs, embedded in a VRE open to any users with federated identity.
Blue-Cloud operates in the framework of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and its Service platform features a variety of services that can be used for undertaking world-class science via the EOSC ecosystem, by featuring leading operational marine research infrastructures and e-infrastructures. In the Blue-Cloud federation, Blue research infrastructures (RIs) and other data and service infrastructures and technological providers make their services available to the community via agreed, FAIR formats and technology and standards and best practices supporting data exchange and interoperability, that EOSC recommends or accepts.
Contributions to the EOSC Federation
As the EOSC Federation evolves, one of the key exploitation pathways that Blue-Cloud is exploring is becoming an EOSC Thematic Node for marine research. At the same time, Blue-Cloud supports the EC Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”, its work programme and the development of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (European DTO) programme, which aims to model the ocean's multiple components, provide knowledge and understanding of the past and present and create trustable predictions of its future behaviour.
How is EUDAT supporting Blue-Cloud 2026?
EUDAT plays an important part in the Blue-Cloud framework by using its B2SERVICES (B2ACCESS, B2SAFE,B2STAGE, B2HOST, and B2DROP) to contribute to key activities within the Blue-Cloud project. Its contributions include:
• Data Discovery & Access Service (DD&AS): EUDAT helps as a data broker by retrieving datasets from the federated Blue-Cloud data infrastructures and temporarily storing them with associated metadata.
• Data Delivery: EUDAT ensures datasets are delivered to users or pushed into the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) for use in Virtual Labs (VLabs), where they can be analysed and visualised.
• Interoperability: EUDAT contributes to making the Blue-Cloud DD&AS and VRE product catalogues accessible via the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) portal using standard protocols.
Interested in how EUDAT can support the research of your project? Explore the service catalogue now!