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GÉANT’s role recognised in JRC guidelines for assessing maturity of European research cloud platforms

3 weeks ago
Image by Nadya_C - stock.adobe.com
Image by Nadya_C - stock.adobe.com

Europe hosts a growing number of cloud platforms supporting scientific research. However, they differ widely in maturity, usability and interoperability. This diversity can make it difficult for researchers to navigate service development roadmaps.

To address these challenges, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) outlined a set of heuristic principles and recommendations for research cloud platforms to self-evaluate and improve their maturity in terms of user experience. JRC’s study focused primarily on platforms in the field of Earth Observation (EO) but also extends its findings and recommendations more broadly to all research cloud platforms.

Within this context, the study also points to the role that GÉANT services and capabilities can play, particularly in helping platforms improve in the areas of access and performance.

“The endorsement of GÉANT’s role naturally surfaced from discussions with the users and platform developers who participated in our workshops. We are glad to see something that actually works get the recognition it deserves.” – Anders Friis-Christensen, European Commission Joint Research Centre

Additionally, the JRC is now developing an online tool based on this framework, which would allow researchers and platform developers to evaluate platforms against the defined principles, identify areas for improvement, and better meet the needs of European scientists.

Understanding platform maturity

The self-assessment framework helps developers to understand where the platforms  stand today and to plan realistic steps for improvement. It measures maturity across four levels:

  • Level 1 – Emerging: Basic features exist, but usability and consistency may be limited.
  • Level 2 – Developing: Platforms are more structured, documented, and easier to navigate.
  • Level 3 – Established: End-to-end processes are smooth, with good user support.
  • Level 4 – Leading: Best-in-class platforms that constantly improve and set standards for others.

Progress is incremental, with actionable guidance in ten areas including interoperability, access, documentation, and user support. After completing the self-assessment with the upcoming tool, platforms will receive visual results, including a maturity badge, radar charts comparing current and target levels, and a summary of priorities.

The role of GÉANT in the context of access

Access is key for researchers. Scientists need reliable, quick, and seamless ways to log in, authenticate, use services, and access data across platforms. Here, the GÉANT community plays a central role, by shaping and supporting a trusted, federated and interoperable identity ecosystem for European research, education and innovation.

JRC’s framework recognises the fundamental function of the GÉANT Core AAI (Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure) Platform for the delivery of advanced AAI services, enabling cloud platforms to support single sign-on, secure collaboration, and interoperable access without forcing users to create multiple accounts. As such, integrating GÉANT’s AAI capabilities would help platforms to reach Level 2 (Developing) maturity in access.

Improving cloud platform performance

While access is critical, the JRC framework also highlights the importance of performance, particularly, as mentioned earlier on, for Earth Observation workloads often involving the transfer, processing, and analysis of large datasets. This area includes reliability, speed of data transfer, scalability, and security.

To address performance issues, the report suggests the use of Data Transfer Nodes (DTNs) infrastructures by GÉANT and European NRENs, servers with specific hi-end hardware components and dedicated transfer tools configured specifically for testing wide area data transfer. DTN testing facilities, like those offered by GÉANT, would allow platforms to test and optimise data transfer performance, especially for data-intensive research and workflows allowing cloud platforms to handle demanding scientific projects.

Interestingly, GÉANT’s AAI capabilities are also indicated as contributing to performance: by allowing multiple platforms to interconnect securely through a trusted identity system, simplifying access management and reducing delays related to repeated authentication requests.

Looking ahead

A self-assessment tool is being developed based on this framework to enable more developers to evaluate the platforms and plan improvements. This will promote a more user-centric, interoperable, and resilient cloud ecosystem for European researchers, supporting innovation, competitiveness, and the EU’s values of transparency, sustainability, and inclusiveness.

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