FAIRness as a research booster

ESFRI Roadmap

Learn more aboiut EVRI hub

Road to a FAIR ENVRI-Hub: Designing and Developing Data Services for End Users organized by ENVRI-FAIR project and LifeWatch ERIC in Lecce Italy from the 10th to the 15th of July 2022 and the ENVRI Community International Summer School  respond to the need of the research community to have a common understanding on data. 20 students coming from different area of knowledge participated to the training event: IT architects, Research Infrastructure (RI) service developers and user support staff, as well as RI staff. Eager to share data honestly and understand the value of having data interoperability they worked together in the training event for implementing a scientific data center to learn more about data, metadata, ontology, labelling, vocabulary with the purposed of exchanging database.

FAIRness and data management is a priority in the framework of Research Infrastructures and this unique opportunity of training has been highly appreciated by the trainers that had the opportunity to to make research better and reproducibile and stimulating and accelerating research. What do researchers share honestly will be support with FAIRness principles and beyond

Information taken from the ESFRI website.

New ESFRI Roadmap Launched

ESFRI Roadmap

 Αfter a two-year-long process of hard and meticulous work by a great number of scientists and ESFRI delegates, a new ESFRI Roadmap was published on 7 December 2021. ESFRI presented the 2021 ESFRI Roadmap on Large Scale Research Infrastructures during a half-day online conference, which you can watch here. For more information, please visit the Launch Event webpage. The ESFRI Roadmap contains probably the best European science facilities based on a thorough evaluation and selection procedure. It combines ESFRI Projects, which are new research infrastructures in progress towards implementation, and ESFRI Landmarks, successfully implemented Research Infrastructures. The document also describes the broader Landscape of research in Europe which is an important component to ESFRI methodology. 

The ESFRI Roadmap 2021 includes 11 new Research Infrastructure Projects and reports on the development of research infrastructures under the existing Roadmap. All previous ESFRI Roadmap updates proved to be very influential and provided useful strategic guidance for European Countries’ investments, which goes beyond the research infrastructure domain. The 2021 update also considers the merits of the Open science concept and highlights the quest to address global challenges, as reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One of the key aspects of ESFRI rests in ensuring that excellent scientists have access to Europe’s best Research Infrastructures, irrespective of borders. This requires truly pan-European collaboration and a global outlook. In this process, ESFRI has acquired immense and valuable experience which it is pleased to share across countries and research infrastructure projects.

Follow and Share Roadmap 2021 news on Twitter: #ESFRIRoadmap2021

Information taken from the ESFRI website.

LifeWatch ERIC in round table: “A Preview of the Role of Science at the EU-Africa Summit 2022”

EU-Africa Summit 2022

On 8–9 December 2021, AERAP Science (the Africa-Europe Science and Innovation Platform) hosted the round-table session “A preview on the Role of Science at the EU-Africa Summit 2022”, to consider the contribution of science to the priorities for the EU-Africa Summit on 17–18 February 2022 in Brussels. In his contribution, Dr Juan Miguel González-Aranda, LifeWatch ERIC CTO and ERIC Forum Executive Board Member, addressed the necessity of establishing an EU-AFRICA e-Biodiversity network, in order to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals regarding the sustainable provision of ecosystem services.

For more information on this event, please see the AERAP article.

Full participant list:

Orla Feely – Vice President for Research, Innovation & Impact (VPRII), University College Dublin, Ireland

Erik Hansalek – Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany

Racey Muchilwa – Head of Novartis, Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), Novartis, Kenya

Daan du Toit – Deputy Director-General: ICR, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa

Maria Cristina Russo – Director for Global Approach and International Cooperation in R&I at European Commission, European Commission, Belgium

Mahama Ouedraogo – Director, Science and Technology Department, African Union Commission, Ethiopia

Shamila Nair-Bedouelle – Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO, France

Jean-Pierre Bourguignon – Institut des hautes études scientifiques (IHES), France

Juan Miguel González-Aranda – LifeWatch ERIC Chief Technology Officer & ERIC FORUM Executive Board Member

Michael Makanga – Director, European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), Netherlands

Raham Rachdi – USPA, Paris

Rahel Belete – Kilimanjaro Innovation Hub, Ethiopia

Djime Adoum – Director General, Sahel Coalition, Chad

Bernd Halling – Head of Corporate Strategy, Bayer AG

Intisar Soghayroun – Minister, Ministry of Higher education and Scientific Research, Sudan

Space4Climate Action: LifeWatch ERIC at the World Space Forum

Space4Climate Action

Yesterday, during the second day of the 2021 World Space Forum “Space4Climate Action” organised by UNOOSA (the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), LifeWatch ERIC CTO, Dr Juan Miguel González-Aranda, presented “Towards the establishment of a global e-Biodiversity network for Sustainable Development Goal accomplishment and Ecosystem Services provision”. Dr González-Aranda highlighted that humanity is bringing our life support system, the biosphere, to the point of collapse, proposing that to solve this situation we must deepen our current level of knowledge, move beyond the present fragmentation of science, and foster greater complementarity and synergy between disciplines. One of the ways to do this being the development of new trans-disciplinary paradigms and the building of synthetic knowledge, with the aim of boosting innovation and a great involvement of young scientists and civil society.

LifeWatch ERIC is Europe’s first line of response to the biodiversity emergency, applying state-of-the-art ICT (Remote Sensing, Big Data, HPC-Cloud-Edge Computing, Blockchain, AI-Machine Learning, IoT-Sensor Networks, etc.) and services to scientific Communities-of-Practice and research centres all over the world through its distributed e-Infrastructure. It engages with and interconnects Researchers, Technologists, Decision-makers, Environmental Managers, Companies, Entrepreneurs, and Citizen Scientists, helping these stakeholders to develop their activities into Virtual Research Environments (VREs). This demonstrates the added value which ICT brings to battling “The Big Five” significant causes of biodiversity loss (changing use of sea and land, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive non-native species), contributing significantly to the introduction of the appropriate measures to combat them. LifeWatch ERIC is particularly involved, for instance, in Aichi Target 9, regarding Non-indigenous and Invasive species.

These activities are being carried out in synergy with the UN SDGs (in particular, 15: Life on Land and 14: Life on Water), the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the European Green Deal, and many more. This is in addition to the essential role of the forthcoming Global Europe instrument (as often cited in ongoing EU-CELAC and EU-African Union cooperation) in relation to indigenous knowledge. The recognition of the importance of indigenous knowledge in reversing biodiversity loss is further reflected in the recent creation of IKRI (the Indigenous Knowledge Research Infrastructure) where key outcomes are anticipated in cooperation with prominent stakeholders, including UNOOSA, ITU (The UN International Telecommunications Union) and LifeWatch ERIC.

You can see the full programme here.

LifeWatch ERIC Takes the Baton: Final Meeting of LIFE AdaptaMED Project

LIFE Adaptmed

On Thursday 19 November, LifeWatch ERIC CTO, Dr Juan Miguel González-Aranda, delivered a keynote speech a the Adaptamed Symposium in Málaga, which marked the end of the LIFE Adaptamed project. His speeh was entitled “LifeWatch ERIC in a nutshell”, and showed the main goals and e-services provided by LifeWatch ERIC in the context of the ENVRI cluster. The presentation took place during the session named “New technologies for monitoring – ecosystem management and visualisation” together with Dr Regino Zamora, Professor of Ecology from Granada University, Dr Antonio Ortiz, from the Water and Environment Agency of Junta de Andalusia (AMAYA), chaired by Dr Francisco-Javier Cano-Manuel, Chief of the Environmental Management Department of Junta de Andalusia in Granada.

The LIFE Adaptamed Project has as main goal obtaining recommendations for the protection of Ecosystem Services in the Mediterranean area. These recommendations would be carried out through the development of adaptive management actions, focusing on the goods and services provided by their natural spaces: for example, those addressed to soil protection, the regulation of water resources and climate itself, the prevention of desertification, the maintenance of fundamental ecological functions to favour the self-organisation of ecosystems (e.g., pollination or seed dispersal), in a global climate change scenario in which socio-economics impacts should also be taken into consideration.

You can watch the recording of the event here (in Spanish). For Dr González-Aranda’s presentation, skip to 7:03:00.

LifeWatch ERIC CEO and CTO Inspire at ‘Inspirational Event 2021’

Inspirational Event

Inspirational Event 2021, powered by Advance Services, took place at Heraklion (Crete) on 15 and 16 November. Its purpose was to bring together successful and distinguished professionals to give half-hour talks, passing on their knowledge, experiences and advice to an audience consisting of executives and entrepreneurs of the local community.

Alongside LifeWatch ERIC Executive Board members, Dr Juan Miguel Gonzalez-Aranda (LifeWatch ERIC CTO & Head of its ICT-Core) and Dr Christos Arvanitidis (LifeWatch ERIC CEO), spoke Dr George Bruseker (Takin Solutions CEO), Dr George Caridakis (Professor at the Aegean University), Mr Yannis Lidakis (Harvard University Representative & SkyExpress Commercial Director) and Dr Armando Stellato (Professor at the University of Rome). The event was chaired by Nikos Minadakis, CEO of Advance Services, which provides Technical & Operations Consultancy to LifeWatch ERIC.

The audience was thrilled with the professional experiences, tips, suggestions and ideas of the speakers, and actively participated with comments and questions. A total of fifty people who had received invitations said they would gladly attend the event each year and were looking forward to returning. The executives of Advance Services expressed their enthusiasm in repeating the event, next time with even more speakers, listeners and a wider range of topics.

WoRMS endorsed as ‘Project Action’ for the Ocean Decade

Ocean Decade Project Action

The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms, including information on synonymy. This register, which is hosted by VLIZ, a member of LifeWatch Belgium, has received endorsement by the Ocean Decade as a ‘Project Action’. In early October 2021, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (‘Ocean Decade’), endorsed 94 new Decade Actions across all ocean basins, all of them contributing in some way to the central vision of “the science we need for the ocean we want”.

Earlier in 2021, the WoRMS Steering Committee and the WoRMS Data Management Team submitted a proposal under the first Call for Actions, entitled “Above and Beyond – Completing the World Register of Marine Species (ABC WoRMS)”, which has been recently accepted, together with 93 other Actions. These actions all build on the global momentum for ocean knowledge-based solutions ahead of major upcoming global summits on climate and biodiversity. In total, there are now 335 endorsed Decade Actions.

As an Ocean Decade Project, WoRMS is being linked to the earlier endorsed Action Programme Marine Life 2030: A Global Integrated Marine Biodiversity Information Management and Forecasting System for Sustainable Development and Conservation. The Data Management Team has recently initiated conversation with the coordinators of the Marine Life 2030 Programme, to discuss the optimal ways to connect WoRMS to their goals.

During the full span of the Ocean Decade, WoRMS will continue its endeavors to provide a full taxonomic overview of all marine life, not only supporting scientists, but everyone who makes use of species names, including policymakers, industry and the public at large. Although already fairly complete, taxonomic gaps still need to be addressed, in terms of both space and time. New challenges in the field of taxonomy – such as temporary names – need to be explored, thereby looking for the best suitable solution for all WoRMS users. The documentation of species traits which are of critical importance for ecological marine research will be encouraged, as will there be increased efforts to link these with other global databases, infrastructures and initiatives such as the LifeWatch Species Information Backbone, OBIS, GOOS, COL, BoLD & GenBank.

The full article is available on the LifeWatch Belgium website.

COP26: A New Hope? – LifeWatch ERIC CTO in Lecture Series on Climate Change

cumbre del clima COP26
An expert-led Lecture Series on the topic of Climate Change (La cumbre del clima COP26: ¿Una nueva esperanza?) is taking place at the University of Navarra, in light of COP26, which came to a close last week.

The Conference brought together representatives from many countries with a common goal: to implement measures to reduce global temperature below 1.5 ºC compared to pre-industrial levels, in a bid to reduce the negative effects of climate change. The aim of the Lecture Series is to present a multidisciplinary exploration of this topic, touching on themes of biodiversity, circular economy, ecology, energy sources or sustainable building, hearing from a range of topic-specific experts.

One of these such experts was LifeWatch ERIC’s own Juan Miguel González-Aranda, Chief Technology Officer and ICT-Core Director, who was called on to present on Sustainable Development Goal 15 Life on Earth. The lecture took place on 12 November 2021 with an in-person audience at the University of Navarra, as well as being livestreamed on YouTube.

His lecture followed the following structure, and was followed by a Q&A session with the audience:

Part 1: Approaching ecosystem services in the context of climate change

Part 2: e-pan-European distributed research infrastructures to strengthen communities working in the realms of science, technology and innovation 

Part 3: Let’s be FAIR: Addressing the challenges of the heterogeneity and scale of biodiversity data, and providing ecosystem services in a sustainable manner through the use of disruptive ICT

Part 4: Tesseract and LifeBlock (tools developed by LifeWatch ERIC)

Part 5: Conclusions

The full PowerPoint presentation (in Spanish) can be downloaded here.

You can watch the full lecture here (in Spanish).

LifeWatch ERIC: A Resource for a More Sustainable Society

COP26

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties will be taking place over the next two weeks, having launched on 31 October. Over the past few days, leaders of states from all around the world have reinforced their promises to reach Net Zero, pledging to slash methane emissions by 2030, and berating nations which have shown less commitment towards such targets. And yet, in the end, the effort of individual states will pale into insignificance. Perhaps David Attenborough, zoologist and documentary presenter, said it best:

“As we work to build a better world, we must acknowledge no nation has completed its development because no advanced nation is yet sustainable. All have a journey still to complete so that all nations have a good standard of living and a modest footprint”

As an organisation in constant dialogue with the biodiversity and ecosystem research community, LifeWatch ERIC is very aware of the fact that biodiversity does not recognise borders. Impacts generated in one corner of the planet trigger domino effects that are felt all around the world, sooner or later. The concept of a secluded green oasis of states which will emerge unscathed from the climate and biodiversity crisis is delusional –as acknowledged by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech, highlighting that the EU is the largest provider of climate finance for adaptation and mitigation, which is necessary to achieve global targets. She also spoke specifically of biodiversity funding in vulnerable countries.

Yes, it is crucial that funding is distributed in a way that facilitates biodiversity and ecosystem research worldwide –yet the way in which research is conducted is of equal importance. LifeWatch ERIC is an unwavering proponent and upholder of the FAIR principles – ensuring that the data and services it handles are Free, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, opening up science to all. Transnational scientific cooperation accelerates the identification of solutions to global problems, benefiting citizens all over. Considering the alarming rate of ecosystem transformation due to climate change, a global and coordinated scientific effort is required to keep up with its monitoring and control. António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, gave a stark warning to world leaders to be vigilant in this respect, declaring the idea that we are on track to turn things around “an illusion.”

And while the shock element of the UN Secretary-General’s speech made the desired impact, reverberating through the world press, the mission and purpose of LifeWatch ERIC is more aligned with the overriding message of Mr Attenborough: “Not fear, but hope.”

LifeWatch ERIC works tirelessly to produce the ICT tools required by researchers to map and monitor biodiversity and ecosystems, enabling them to identify solutions to the issues exacerbated by climate change. Collaborating with other research infrastructures based in Europe and further afield, LifeWatch ERIC ensures the reliability and multiplicity of data used in scientific research projects, as well as providing the means to best interpret this data. The infrastructure acts as a mediator between the research community and policymakers, helping researchers piece together scientific findings to identify patterns at local, continental and global scales, extracting the meaning from this data and translating it into comprehensible information for policymakers, who can be assured that the actions they take are rooted in scientific excellence.

LifeWatch ERIC is an available resource for those wishing to invest in biodiversity and ecosystem research to reach the goals reinforced by the critical discourse taking place at COP26. The increased coordination, collaboration and cooperation of scientists, citizens and civil servants alike is the best way to rapidly identify and pursue the adaptation, mitigation and restorative measures necessary for the survival of our planet.

You can learn more about LifeWatch ERIC and the European research infrastructure community at the following links:

2020 Activities Report Published

LifeWatch ERIC Activities Report

The LifeWatch ERIC 2020 Activities Report, reflecting on LifeWatch ERIC’s operations and accomplishments over the year of reference, has been published. The document, which can be viewed and downloaded below, contextualises LifeWatch ERIC’s position in the European and global landscape of Research Infrastructures and is an invaluable reference on the organisation’s vision, staff, projects, financial performance and governance. Furthermore, it explores how the infrastructure adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, going into detail on the progress the ERIC made in the face of unusual circumstances.

In the foreword, Gert Verreet, Chair of the LifeWatch ERIC General Assembly for the period of reference, congratulates the infrastructure on its successful year, noting however that, on a larger scale, 2020 marked a symbolic failure as humanity missed several self-declared biodiversity targets. He argues that this urgent situation only increases scientists’ need for tools “such as those provided by LifeWatch ERIC, to understand how life adapts (or struggles to adapt) to changes.”

LifeWatch ERIC CEO Christos Arvanitidis also acknowledges the progress made by the ERIC over 2020 and expresses his gratitude to the infrastructure’s human component: “I feel very much indebted to the most valuable ingredient of LifeWatch ERIC: its fantastic personnel, who achieved so much, with intelligence, talent and faith, in such a difficult year. This gives me great hope that the Infrastructure will be entirely developed, tested and delivered as fully operational in the year to come.”

High Definition LifeWatch ERIC 2020 Activities Report: download.

Light Version LifeWatch ERIC 2020 Activities Report: download.

The hard-copy report will be printed on 100% recycled paper, with a limited number of copies.