EOSC-Life Strategic Marketing and Stakeholder Mapping Report

EOSC-Life is a complex project, having started with 12 work packages and now grown to 14, and listing 47 partners. The stakeholders span a broad range of focus areas, and thus the outreach efforts require considerable thought. This deliverable serves to update the milestones MS32 and MS33, Communication Plan and Strategic Marketing and Stakeholder Mapping, respectively, based on input from the work packages during the first half of the project, and considering some changes in orientation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The corresponding allocated communication tools are also updated to reflect these changes.

In order to provide input, WP10 distributed a survey to each of the work package co-leads. In the survey, they were asked to review the existing Stakeholder Map from MS33 and identify the 5 most important stakeholders from the point of view of their work package, and to shift the stakeholders to different categories or suggest new ones where needed. The results were compiled into an updated Stakeholder Map to be used for the remainder of the project.

Essentially, we reduced the number of stakeholders from 30 to 24 while adding one additional stakeholder that formed in 2020 (EOSC Association). Stakeholders that were prioritized by multiple work packages were moved further to the top of the map, and we will focus out outreach efforts on those in the 2nd half of the project.

The survey also looked at communication efforts of the work packages and which methods they deemed most effective. We took this feedback into account to revise our strategy for using communication tools. The importance of individual communication tools has also shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as in-person events have moved online, and this is reflected in our revision.

Finally, we examined and revised the communication targets or KPIs established at the onset of the project to better monitor the effectiveness of our outreach efforts.

Overall, EOSC-Life interacts with 24 stakeholder groups and will require targeted project communication to reach each group.