The three Horizon 2020 projects which the UbuntuNet Alliance is a partner are helping in fostering collaboration among implementing partners.
The projects are the Middleware for Collaborative Applications and Global Virtual Communities (MAGIC) being coordinated by the Latin American regional REN RedCLARA; Energizing Scientific Endeavour through Science Gateways and e-Infrastructures in Africa (Sci-GaIA), coordinated by Brunel University; and the TransAfrican Network Development (TANDEM), coordinated by the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD).
MAGIC is a 2 year €1,821,872.50m project which officially started on 1st May 2015 but held its kick off meeting in June 2015 in Paris. The project aims at enhancing worldwide research and education collaboration and networking through the building and consolidation of tools, services and e-infrastructure that facilitate access and mobility of global research communities.
Under the project, UbuntuNet-Alliance is leading Work Package 5 which aims at creating Global Science Communities which Dr. Florencio Utreras, RedCLARA’s CEO says are central to the measurement of the success of the project.
“The Global Science Communities are a central part of our project. We are working on developing collaboration tools that will make their joint work easier. Using these tools they will prove how global our community is and how we can build synergetic activities to make our work better around the world since we all depend on those communities to advance our research and educational activities,” Says Dr. Utreras.
In Sci-GaIA, where the aim is to promote the uptake of science gateways; support new and emerging user communities and strengthen science gateways and e-Infrastructure related services, UbuntuNet Alliance is assigned task 4.3 of Work Package 4 which seeks to support training in Science Gateways and e-Infrastructures, and to disseminate and communicate the results of the project.
Under this task, UbuntuNet Alliance, with the support of partners will be organising a pre-conference workshop on Open Science on 18th November 2015 ahead of UbuntuNet-Connect 2015. The workshop will discuss and advocate open principals in data and science, a new paradigm in e-science.
In TANDEM, UbuntuNet Alliance is responsible for WP4 which is dealing with Communities. So far, the Community of NREN Focal Points was established in West Africa and the first workshop aimed at developing a work plan will be held in Accra, Ghana on 5th November 2015.
It is expected that the Horizon 2020 projects will promote research and education collaboration by among other things, improving existing e-infrastructure and research networking through the promotion of Eduroam in regions where the projects are being implemented.