Abstract:

[Objective] The development of research e-infrastructures provides a consolidated foundation for promoting research innovation, supporting societal governance, and aligning global efforts. Robust governance models are still needed to facilitate the operation of these research e-infrastructures. [Methods] This paper initializes a three-dimension governance framework for the research e-infrastructures, which include submodules, namely the organizational model, the service model, and the business model. A comparative analysis is carried out based on over ten different cases. [Results] For the organizational model, we should keep the balance between centralized and decentralized organizational structures. For the service model, key issues include the decentralized ICT design and implementation, and the sustained construction of the service ecosystem. As for the business model, cost-effective, fair metrics and sustained reward systems are essential. In addition, other necessary contributors to a fully open science governance model include also tailored research scenarios, characteristics of research resources, as well as the service status within the research lifecycle. [Conclusions] The future research e-infrastructures may feature open and integrated research resources, federated and interoperable technical architectures, scenario-based intelligent services, secure and reliable stewardship. Mature governance models should comprehensively consider all these elements and stay open and dynamic, adaptive to the innovative digital revolution.

Key words: research e-infrastructure, governance model, open science infrastructure, organizational model, service model, business model