GDI D1.19 - 7th GDI quarterly implementation report

The European Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI) is a deployment project co-funded by the Digital Europe programme. GDI's main objective is to realise the data infrastructure required by the 1+MG initiative to share high-quality genotypic and phenotypic data across borders, the 1+MG Virtual Cohort. Countries participating have committed to reach a concrete operational level before the end of the project (progressing across different phases: onboarding, deployment or operational), which will require them to fulfil technical and non-technical requirements. 

In addition, the establishment of required technical capacity in each Node has been identified as a critical factor for the success of the project and the long-term sustainability of the data infrastructure and the initiative.

This document presents the results of the initial European Genomic Data Infrastructure monitoring activities laid out in  D1.12 that are initially focussed on:

• the deployment of the technical expertise required to deploy and operate the European Genomic Data Infrastructure to share access to data across borders, building the technical capacity to run the infrastructure beyond the end of the project, and,

• the evolution of the European Genomic Data Infrastructure Nodes. GDI Nodes will transition across different phases in their journey to be fully operational and integrated into the European Genomic Data Infrastructure.

• identifying capacity-building actions required to target onboarding. We acknowledge the different access to skills and resources each GDI Node has which implies that GDI Nodes will evolve and reach operational readiness at different speeds. We will use the information collected from GDI Nodes to identify gaps and opportunities to build capacity across the nodes both at the technical level and not technical levels to accelerate the journey across the different phases. In this case, we will focus on the onboarding phase.

These monitoring processes and tools aim to support GDI Nodes in their journey by assessing their progress on a quarterly basis and providing them with useful guidance and recommendations to reach their individual and project objectives, summarised in the commitment to have 6 Nodes technically operational by 2024. This will be extended to 15 Nodes by 2026 with three additional Nodes reaching deployment and six more Nodes reaching onboarding.

A summary of the information collected every quarter will be presented to the 1+MG Group (in addition to being shared with project participants) in order to gather the contributions and support of the 1+MG Group on the direction of travel and their assistance in removing any roadblocks that could be identified.

The information presented here corresponds to the status of the Nodes by M24. 

The current scope and content of the quarterly report could be updated if there is a need to modify it to better support the countries in their commitments or to facilitate reaching the overall project's initiatives. For instance, monitoring of the volume of data available in the European Genome Dashboard or via the 1+MG infrastructure could be implemented in the near future.

GDI has continued to update the 1+MG Framework, initially released by B1MG , https://framework.onemilliongenomes.eu/  which is a useful resource to build capacity and facilitate the dissemination of the 1+MG recommendation and guidelines coming from the project to support the implementation ( B1MG, GDI, GoE, EHDS,....). The first official release in November 2023 was comprised mainly of B1MG outputs, but has since been updated with several approved GDI deliverables. This can help GDI members navigate recommendations and understand how the components work together and align with the EHDS. The framework will continue to be updated and maintained by GDI, thus incorporating the latest resources that support the vision of the 1+MG initiative.