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Updated 10/10/2025
New EOSC Beyond Report Analyses Financial Sustainability of Core Services
The EOSC Beyond project has taken a significant step towards addressing the long-term viability of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) with the release of Deliverable D3.3, the "EOSC Beyond Sustainability Report". This interim report provides a crucial first analysis of the financial sustainability options for the core services developed within the project, offering valuable insights for the entire EOSC community as it plans for the period beyond 2027.
This deliverable represents a foundational effort to systematically collect and analyse financial sustainability information for 11 key EOSC Beyond services. In a complex and rapidly evolving landscape, this work begins to answer one of the most pressing questions: how to create a sustainable, federated infrastructure for European science.
A Closer Look at the Analysis
The report analyses the EOSC Beyond services from multiple perspectives to build a comprehensive picture of their sustainability prospects:
- Entrepreneurial & Organisational Approach: The analysis reveals that while service providers are committed to EOSC's mission, many have not yet fully detailed the implications of providing services on a more professional basis. This includes aspects like formal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and managing legal liabilities.
- Technical & Competitive Approach: The report finds that most services have been developed specifically for EOSC, representing a significant public investment. While market factors affect sustainability, these have often not been analysed in depth by providers. A key advantage is that development costs have been covered by EC projects, potentially making these services more affordable than future commercial alternatives.
- Economic Considerations: For the first time, the report provides concrete cost estimates for operating the suite of EOSC Beyond services, offering a valuable benchmark for candidate Nodes.
Key Insights and Cost Analysis
A central outcome of the report is a preliminary financial estimate for implementing an EOSC node with the project's core services. The data, gathered from 11 participating services, indicate the following projected costs: one-time Node setup costs of approximately €190K, and annual Node operational costs of €1.6M per year.
These figures are broadly comparable to estimates provided by candidate Nodes themselves, though with some variations. This suggests two key opportunities for the community:
- Candidate Nodes may be unaware of existing services that could be integrated into their infrastructures.
- Service providers should be supported in "packaging" their proven services for easier uptake by Nodes.
The report also highlights that the costs for federating data and services through EOSC, while significant, are modest compared to the much larger expense of making research data FAIR in the first place; a cost that will be borne primarily at national and institutional levels.
Further Exploring Long-Term Viability
The findings of the D3.3 report directly contribute to the broader Tripartite discussion on the long-term sustainability of EOSC. Its analysis of specific services and their economic models provides a grounded, practical perspective to inform high-level strategy. The report identifies several opportunities to derive greater benefit from the investments already made in EOSC Beyond services.
These include a deeper analysis of marginal costs and economies of scale by service providers, and a coordinated effort by the EOSC community to encourage the adoption of these services across the multiple versions of EOSC being implemented.
"Understanding the cost structures and potential exploitation paths for core services is fundamental to building a resilient EOSC. This first sustainability report gives us a realistic baseline and highlights where we need to focus our efforts to ensure these vital services continue to support European researchers long after the project ends," said Dale Robertson, EGI Foundation, who led this work for the EOSC Beyond project.
Entering Phase Two
As an interim report, D3.3 lays the groundwork for further refinement and analysis. The report will serve as the basis for a consultation exercise to gather views and input from representatives of the broader EOSC community.
A final deliverable on sustainability is due in March 2027, which will build upon these initial findings. The insights from this report are expected to influence not only the future development of EOSC Beyond services but also the strategic planning for the EOSC Federation's financial ecosystem.
Download the full D3.3 Sustainability Report to explore the detailed analysis.
