ELIXIR publishes its 2020 Annual Report, detailing the scientific developments achieved in unprecedented times. This year’s report showcases the impact of ELIXIR’s activities in various areas, including COVID-19, thanks to a community of experts and trusted relationships with key stakeholders and funding bodies.
Kostas Glinos, Head of Unit for Open Science at the European Commission provided the foreword for this Annual Report and praised ELIXIR’s efforts to collaborate, innovate and instigate change within the life science data sector. He particularly praised ELIXIR’s role in promoting Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data principles, which were a central tenet to the COVID-19 Data Portal; a collaborative project in which EMBL-EBI and ELIXIR are key partners.
‘Although ELIXIR’s five-year plan, published in 2018, could not have considered the COVID-19 pandemic, ELIXIR has demonstrated the necessary agility to rise to the challenge and deliver crucial results. Establishing the European COVID-19 Data Platform is the perfect exemplification of this success.’
Kostas Glinos, Head of Unit for Open Science at the European Commission
Looking towards the future, the report also puts emphasis on the next steps for ELIXIR, in particular towards Horizon Europe and life science data management. One such example is the RDMkit, launched in May 2021.
‘As I look to the future, I remain excited about the opportunities ahead. 2021 sees the start of Horizon Europe. In turn, ELIXIR will release its data management toolkit (RDMkit) for researchers – providing easy access to a curated collection of research data management guidelines, tools and services.’
Niklas Blomberg, ELIXIR Director
This report is the second to be published within the ELIXIR 2019-2023 Scientific Programme and details the progress that has been made against the long-term strategic objectives.
Should you like to explore more, you can find all Annual Reports archived on our Publications page.