First release of the EOSC Execution Framework, Automating Research Workflows in the Cloud

The release of both the first software implementation and the comprehensive architectural blueprint of the EOSC Execution Framework (EF) represents a significant dual achievement in our mission to build a dynamic European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). 

Detailed in our new deliverables D13.1 "First release of the EOSC Execution Framework" and D13.2 "First report on EOSC Execution Framework Architecture and capabilities", this work marks a critical step in transitioning the EOSC from a platform for discovery to an environment for dynamic execution.

The EOSC Execution Framework is a set of components designed to enhance the dynamic deployment and composability of services across the EOSC ecosystem. It fundamentally changes how services are offered, discovered, deployed, and integrated; and evolves the EOSC Interoperability Framework from a collection of static human-readable guidelines to a system of machine-composable, actionable resources. This work directly contributes to the practical realisation of the EOSC Federation, providing a core technical capability that allows diverse nodes to interoperate seamlessly.

D13.2 details the robust architecture of the Execution Framework, which is built upon two enhanced core components. This architecture provides the blueprint for a more generalised and powerful system, evolving from previous implementations to serve the entire federation.

Together, the two deliverables represent a step forward in automation and user experience. The first release of the EF introduces several key capabilities that we have successfully implemented.

We have transformed our IF Registry into a powerful engine for automation. By introducing Configuration Templates, we have moved beyond documents that people must read and interpret. Now, interoperability guidelines can be directly executed by machines, automatically configuring services for areas like monitoring and access, which dramatically reduces setup time and potential for error.

A key achievement has been the seamless integration of the EF with the EOSC User Space. For researchers, this means a unified and user-friendly interface where they can search for, select, and request the deployment of complex services through a simple three-step form. For providers, it introduces the ability to create and publish their own Deployable Services, making their resources instantly accessible and actionable to the entire EOSC community.

We have empowered our EOSC Deployment Service with critical automation features. It now dynamically assigns fully qualified and secure domain names to deployed services. Furthermore, its automated data staging capability can fetch datasets from multiple open repositories and make them immediately available to dynamically provisioned virtual infrastructure, effectively bridging the gap between data discovery and computation.

To demonstrate the new framework's potential, we have released initial composable applications:

"The shift from static discovery to dynamic execution is crucial for research communities. By automating the deployment of services and the staging of data, the EOSC Execution Framework directly supports the needs of researchers at different stages of their work, making Open Science practices more actionable and integrated." - Alessia Bardi, Senior Researcher at ISTI-CNR and OpenAIRE.

With this solid foundation in place, our work now advances to the next phase in Work Package 14. Our focus will be on completing the implementation and expanding capabilities, which include developing a user-friendly editor for Configuration Templates and further extending the EOSC Deployment Service to automatically request TLS certificates and integrate the Data Transfer Service.

This work will enable the building of a federated network of EOSC Nodes, providing the tools for national, regional, and thematic infrastructures to offer not just discoverable, but directly executable services to researchers across Europe.

Explore the technical details of our releases: