D1.1 Project, Quality and Risk Management Plan

Blue-Cloud aims to become the reference point for the "Blue community" in the need of data, analytics tools and computing resources in EOSC and in the future Blue Economy & marine research landscape.

Blue-Cloud aims to pilot a cyber platform bringing together and providing access to: 1) multidisciplinary data from observations and models, 2) analytical tools, & 3) computing facilities essential to support research to better understand and manage the many aspects of ocean sustainability.

These objectives will be pursued throughout the project's 36-month implementation by a consortium composed by twenty beneficiaries.

The formulation, implementation and adoption by project partners of common project procedures, conventions, and well defined processes are therefore essential for the project management approach, to ensure the results are produced conform to defined standards and, ultimately, to ensure that the series of established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are met.

The Blue-Cloud Project, Quality and Risk Management Plan is the "Project Handbook" that defines the organisation and the methodology that all partners and nodes shall apply throughout the project when delivering project results, documents and internal work progress reports. It forms a common standard to guarantee quality for the entire project lifecycle. First and foremost, this document provides:

• Management structure and procedures;
• Quality assurance framework including collaboration tools, quality control of the project, of its deliverables and milestones, organisation of regular meetings, reporting procedures, preparation of review meetings, procedures for dissemination, communication and publications and KPIs;
• IPR & Innovation Management;
• Risk management and contingency plan monitoring.

Its implementation will ensure regular appraisal of KPIs defined to measure progress and gauge impact; and will provide the needed methodology to ensure a smooth communication process among the different actors, and the diversity of tasks foreseen. The main goal is to meet the expectations and commitment made by the European Commission as a funding body of the project as well as expectations and needs of different stakeholders collaborating with Blue-Cloud.