EOSC Core Innovation Sandbox: A Live Environment for De-Risking Federation

We have recently published Deliverable D5.4, offering a comprehensive overview of the operational EOSC Core Innovation Sandbox. This report details the functionality and access model of this pre-production environment, which has been accessible to external organisations since the spring of 2025. The document provides essential guidance for researchers, service providers, and node operators looking to test and integrate with EOSC Core components in a safe, controlled setting.

This live Sandbox environment represents a critical asset for building a more robust EOSC Federation. By providing a space where stakeholders can validate interoperability and ensure compliance with EOSC standards without production risks, the Sandbox accelerates integration while maintaining quality across the evolving Open Science ecosystem.

The Sandbox functions as a fully operational Federator Node, providing a complete suite of Core Federating Capabilities as a foundation for testing. Key services available include:

The report documents successful integrations already achieved with multiple EOSC Pilot Nodes, CESSDA, CNB-CSIC, EGI, e-INFRA CZ, ENES, INSTRUCT-ERIC, LifeWatch ERIC, METROFOOD-RI, NFDI, and NI4OS-Europe. These implementations have validated critical processes, including AAI integration, helpdesk federation, and automated service deployment, demonstrating the practical viability of the federated model while identifying areas for continued refinement.

The Sandbox is supported by a comprehensive Documentation Hub, providing task-oriented resources for different user roles to ensure they can effectively interact with the EOSC infrastructure.

"The EOSC Core Innovation Sandbox provides an essential platform for service providers and research infrastructures to validate their integrations in a realistic environment. This hands-on testing is crucial for de-risking the onboarding process and ensuring seamless interoperability within the EOSC ecosystem, which is a key focus of our work in the region. The sandbox and documentation hub together offer a hands-on environment for building an EOSC node from scratch". - Dušan Vudragović, Institute of Physics, Belgrade and an expert in grid e-infrastructures.

The Innovation Sandbox was also presented in the first EOSC Beyond webinar in June 2025; you can rewatch the recording on the project’s YouTube profile.

The deliverable outlines how the Sandbox will continue to serve as the primary validation tool for new EOSC Nodes, with plans to automate integration processes further and broaden access to additional research communities and providers.

Read the deliverable to understand how your organisation can utilise the Sandbox: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17292990