FOSB - Implementation of Flemish Open Science Board goals

On February 21st 2020, the Flemish Open Science Board (FOSB) was established, with the aim of rolling out an open science policy in Flemish knowledge institutions. It operates within the framework of a broader European policy - such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) - and focuses mainly on open data and research data management (RDM). This requires infrastructure (data archiving), metadata and standardisation (data discovery), and training and expertise on the work floor. The latter in particular requires the involvement of 'data stewards': profiles who can coach researchers in the knowledge institutes with regard to RDM, the FAIR principles and open data, in order to stimulate a more open culture.

In order to bring about this paradigm shift, the Department of Economics, Science and Innovation (EWI) allocates resources to the FOSB and to universities, university colleges and the Flemish Scientific Institutions (VWIs). The VWIs (ILVO, INBO, Plantentuin Meise, Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium, KMSKA, Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed) decided to collaborate on this and to fully dedicate the resources to data stewards. These profiles will be housed in the three major VWIs (ILVO, INBO, Plantentuin Meise), but will coordinate with each other in order to achieve the FOSB objectives for all VWIs. For INBO, these objectives are closely aligned with the Open Science Objectives (OSDs).