D6.3 Blue-Cloud Services Exploitation and Sustainability Plan (Release 1)

As part of the EU H2020 Blue-Cloud project activities are undertaken for developing and deploying a Blue-Cloud cyber infrastructure with smart federation of multidisciplinary data repositories, analytical tools, and computing facilities. This infrastructure will facilitate exploration and demonstration of the potential of cloud based open science, supporting research for understanding and better managing the many aspects of ocean sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to pollution, in support of the EU Green Deal and also in connection with UN Decade of the Oceans and G7 Future of the Oceans initiatives.

This document provides an initial version and guidance towards the delivery of a final Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan for the Blue-Cloud assets. While these Blue-Cloud assets are still under development, the process of defining the way forward for their future exploitation after Project end (2022) will benefit from an early consideration and discussion, engaging all Project Partners. Also, additional input from external stakeholder dialogue and consultations as being undertaken in the framework of the Blue-Cloud Roadmap to 2030 development needs to be taken into account. The Roadmap analyses will provide recommendations for the future capitalization and further development of the results of the Blue-Cloud Project in the medium (2025) and long-term (2030). This document is the first release of the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan and it gives present understanding as well as will serve as guiding framework for further analyses, discussion, and identifying the key elements that will need to be addressed during the remainder of the Project with input and feedback from all Partners. This process should deliver the 2nd and final release of the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan by July 2022.

The goal of the final Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan is at one hand, to define an exploitation model and to secure with partners the operation and exploitation of the Blue-Cloud results in the 3 years following the project end, and on the other hand, to explore and pave the way to longer sustainability, supported by major stakeholders. For the latter there is clear synergy and interaction with the Blue-Cloud Roadmap 2030 development. Moreover, sustainability perspectives will motivate partners to ensure and commit to the planned short-term operation and exploitation.

The path to definition of the Blue-Cloud sustainability model is a process founded on 3 main pillars, supported by the project outcomes and research results and obtained with a consortium-wide commitment:

• Pillar 1: problem/solution fit and vision/solution fit of the Blue-Cloud framework – demonstrating ability to solve needs of target end-users, moving up the MRL (Market Readiness Level) scale to show proof of traction. This pillar is equivalent to MRL 5 and 6 ("open beta with pipeline customers" and "market traction").
• Pillar 2: demonstrating customer understanding of Blue-Cloud, gathering evidence of satisfaction through validation scoring and marketing evidence of concrete benefits gained (e.g. testimonials from pilots and their users; subsequently through the open pilot stream). Equivalent to MRL 7 ("proof of satisfaction: both for customers and within the team").
• Pillar 3: Proof of scalability with evidence of satisfied market needs and evidence of willingness to cover resources needed for a post-project continuation of services. Equivalent to MRL8 ("proof of scalability") demonstrated through the Blue-Cloud joint exploitation plan. Throughout its duration, Blue-Cloud will seek for demonstration of early market traction, which it will subsequently transform into a business plan.

For this purpose, the current workplan of the Blue-Cloud project includes not only scientific and technical developments on the planned Blue-Cloud services, but also extensive activities for marketing and promotion of the Blue-Cloud assets to all major stakeholders, from project partners, targeted users, and potential funders. This includes activities for evaluating the defined MRL through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) on the market penetration and the fitness of the market model for establishing a stable position, demonstrating incremental growth and anticipated added-values and impacts.

Therefore, this initial Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan identifies and describes all elements which are considered relevant. Also, it identifies where further activities are needed to provide firm answers and decisions.

The document starts with describing the overall methodology and process that have been followed to prepare this plan, making optimal use of the Horizon Result Booster (HRB) instrument of the EU and provided business consultancy services, while engaging all Blue-Cloud beneficiaries in the process.

It continues with sketching the European marine data landscape and the foreseen position of the Blue-Cloud platform and its services. The overall aims and concept are formulated, and a description is given of the planned Blue-Cloud services, the so-called Key Exploitable Results (KER).

Next, an initial market analysis is worked out, reporting on the results of a Joint Workshop with Blue-Cloud beneficiaries to draft a Lean Canvas Business Model, and identifying different Blue-Cloud stakeholders and their interest and potential benefits.

This is followed by giving an overview of the Marketing Media Mix (MMM), an extensive portfolio of marketing and promotion activities, which is applied in the Blue-Cloud project, since its start, to reach out to potential stakeholders and to make them aware and informed about the Blue-Cloud developments and resulting services and to collect KPIs relevant for the three pillars (see above). The next chapter looks into the organization of management and operation of each of the planned Blue-Cloud services and the associated roles and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of beneficiaries. Although this is still premature, since the majority of Blue-Cloud services are under development, whereby the organisation of their exploitation is still to be determined.

Next, categories of costs for the exploitation phase are explored, followed by assessing the expected added-values and impacts of the Blue-Cloud services for different stakeholders and considering ways for measuring these as KPIs. Overall, the Blue-Cloud philosophy is not to aim for commercial services, but for public services, which are valued and appreciated by authorities, such as EU and Member States as major stakeholders, in a positive balance. This requires achieving success towards potential users and collecting convincing evidence of usage and impacts (see three pillars above). Aligned with this, another interactive Joint Workshop with all Blue-Cloud beneficiaries was held to brainstorm about these added-values and impacts and ways for monitoring.

Finally, a draft is given of the initial exploitation and sustainability strategy and a summary of actions, which need to be deployed in the remaining project period in order to provide further answers and insights.

This initial Services Exploitation and Sustainability Plan makes use of a number of already available Blue-Cloud deliverables [1], [2], [3], and [4], and the insights that these provide. Also use is made of the discussions between Blue-Cloud WP6 core partners in their regular WP6 meetings. And a lot of synergy is found in the activities and discussions for formulating a Blue-Cloud Roadmap 2030 with ambitions for the medium and long term, and organising input and engagement from major stakeholders for a future upscaling and funding of the Blue-Cloud services, aiming for a long-term sustainability and expansion of the Blue-Cloud initiative, e.g. by means of a portfolio of EU funded projects and synergies with other projects and initiatives.

Complementary, the Blue-Cloud exploitation and sustainability plan is aiming for making arrangements for securing the short term (3 years after the project) with an outlook to the medium term. For that reason, the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan aims for developing a set of agreements between the respective Blue Cloud operators, in which they will guarantee that each of the Blue-Cloud services will be kept operational and available for use by researchers for at least 3 years after the Blue-Cloud project end, under prevailing conditions.

However, currently there are still a number of questions which need to be answered as part of planned project activities. These should give sufficient input for completing the exploitation and sustainability insights and upgrading this initial plan into a final plan, Deliverable D6.5, as planned later near the end of the Blue-Cloud project.