LUMEN Policy Brief

The LUMEN project addresses structural gaps in the current development of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), particularly in relation to cross-domain discovery, semantic interoperability, and the accessibility of services for researchers at early stages of the research lifecycle. By delivering a federated ecosystem of interoperable discovery platforms, FAIR-by-design semantic infrastructures, and AI-enhanced services, LUMEN demonstrates concrete, scalable solutions that directly support the EOSC Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda.

However, the project also highlights two critical areas where stronger policy support and strategic coordination are urgently needed.

First, the long-term sustainability of EOSC-relevant services and infrastructures remains insufficiently addressed. LUMEN is developing key reusable components—such as a Data Mesh-based interoperability framework, white-label discovery platforms, and the LUMIS semantic infrastructure—that are designed for uptake beyond the project’s lifetime. Without clear sustainability mechanisms, governance models, and funding pathways at EOSC level, there is a significant risk that such high-value outputs will not be fully exploited. There is therefore a need for maintaining and sustaining Key Exploitable Results (KERs), involving the European Commission, the EOSC Association, Member States, and where relevant, industry actors.

Second, LUMEN identifies immediate and actionable opportunities for integration into the EOSC EU Node. Several project outputs—including cross-domain Meta-Search capabilities, the Software Catalogue, and semantic enrichment services—are mature enough to complement and extend the current EOSC service portfolio. Their integration would significantly enhance the discoverability, interoperability, and usability of EOSC resources, while facilitating the onboarding of new scientific communities. This calls for clearer integration pathways and technical alignment mechanisms between project outcomes and the EOSC EU Node.

Overall, LUMEN demonstrates that achieving EOSC’s objectives requires not only technological innovation, but also decisive policy action to ensure sustainability, integration, and scalability of results across the federation.

This policy brief is also a project deliverable and currently under review by the EC.