Optimising FAIRness of federated Blue Data Infrastructures. Blue-Cloud Training Academy, Webinar #2

The webinar gave information about the Blue-Cloud initiative and more details about the architecture and approach for the Blue-Cloud Federated Data Discovery & Access Service (DD&AS). More information was given about the Blue-Cloud 2026 activity for optimizing the FAIRness of the DD&AS and the web services of its federated (BDIs). Moreover, it provided insight how a few BDIs are managing their networks of data originators in order to provide harmonised and FAIR discovery and access to their collected data resources, using and promoting best practices and standards.

The EU pilot Blue-Cloud project combined developing a marine thematic European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and serving the Blue Economy, Marine Environment and Marine Knowledge agendas. It deployed a versatile cyber platform with smart federation of multidisciplinary data repositories, analytical tools, and computing facilities in support of exploring and demonstrating the potential of cloud based open science for ocean sustainability. Since early 2023, the Blue-Cloud 2026 project aims at a further evolution into a Federated European Ecosystem to deliver FAIR & Open data and analytical services, instrumental for deepening research of oceans, coastal & inland waters. Blue-Cloud 2026 aims at providing a European core data and knowledge service next to EMODnet and Copernicus Marine, and major component for the Digital Twins of the Oceans (DTO's).

One of the core services of the Blue-Cloud ecosystem is a Federated Data Discovery & Access Service (DD&AS), which gives a common discovery and access to the data and data products as managed and provided by a series of leading European marine data management and research infrastructures, so-called Blue Data Infrastructures (BDIs).

This webinar was organised with the support of Ocean Best Practices initiative and is part of the Blue-Cloud 2026 Training Academy webinars series.