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  <front>
    <journal-meta />
    <article-meta>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Assessing Quality Requirements for Onboarding Web Services to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC): A Case Study of the Gaussian API</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Despina Misheva</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Marija Stojcheva</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Mia Bosheva</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Bojana Koteska</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Ljupco Pejov</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff0">0</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">2</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <string-name>Anastas Mishev</string-name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="aff0">
          <label>0</label>
          <institution>Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger</institution>
          ,
          <country country="NO">Norway</country>
        </aff>
        <aff id="aff1">
          <label>1</label>
          <institution>Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FCSE), "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" University</institution>
          ,
          <addr-line>Skopje, North</addr-line>
          <country country="MK">Macedonia</country>
        </aff>
        <aff id="aff2">
          <label>2</label>
          <institution>Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Science and Informatics, "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" University</institution>
          ,
          <addr-line>Skopje, North</addr-line>
          <country country="MK">Macedonia</country>
        </aff>
        <aff id="aff3">
          <label>3</label>
          <institution>SQAMIA 2023: Workshop on Software Quality</institution>
          ,
          <addr-line>Analysis, Monitoring, Improvement, and Applications</addr-line>
        </aff>
      </contrib-group>
      <fpage>80</fpage>
      <lpage>91</lpage>
      <abstract>
        <p>The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is an initiative by the European Commission to support EU science by establishing a virtual environment for publishing, hosting, and reusing research. It promotes common standards, interoperability, and best practices for sharing and utilizing data and services. The EOSC platform contributes significantly to open science and facilitates transparent and accessible knowledge sharing. The resource onboarding process to the EOSC requires compliance with the established quality criteria. This paper focuses on accessing quality criteria for successful onboarding, including a case study on the RESTful web service for fitting repulsive potentials in density-functional tight-binding with Gaussian process regression - Gaussian API. The onboarding process follows a sequential evaluation of a set of criteria. The examination of The Gaussian API integration into EOSC provides valuable insights for three main aspects: improving service quality, considering the benefits of Open Science, and addressing challenges related to the smooth onboarding process.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group>
        <kwd>eol&gt;EOSC</kwd>
        <kwd>Software quality</kwd>
        <kwd>Web service</kwd>
        <kwd>Open science</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
  <body>
    <sec id="sec-1">
      <title>1. Introduction</title>
      <p>
        Open science can be defined as transparent and accessible knowledge that is shared and
developed through collaborative networks. It is an emerging necessity of the 21st century, considering
the fact that open data tools, open access platforms, open peer review methods, or public
engagement activities are irreversible trends that afect scientific processes and have the potential
to accelerate the research cycle. Because open science is a fairly new and unexplored field, we
can only scratch the surface in revealing its benefits [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref>
        ].
      </p>
      <p>
        The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2 ref3">2, 3</xref>
        ] is a European Commission initiative from
the European Union that aims at supporting EU science by establishing a virtual environment to
publish, host, and re-use research such as publications, data, and software. EOSC promotes the
development and adoption of common standards, interoperability frameworks, and best practices
to ensure that data and services can be easily shared, discovered, and utilized. Furthermore,
EOSC also emphasizes the significance of data management, security, and privacy, promoting
responsible and ethical practices in handling scientific data.
      </p>
      <p>The EOSC platform consists of many components, including the EOSC Portal, which is
a web portal that serves as a universal access channel to the resources of EOSC. The EOSC
adapts a common policy framework that enables FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and
Reusable) data to be used and shared throughout the entire value chain for scientific, societal,
and industrial purposes. Figure 1 shows the six main services of the EOSC portal, which are
services, resources, use cases, providers onboarding, policy and funding opportunities.</p>
      <p>One of the services present in the EOSC Portal is the onboarding service, which enables
collaboration and knowledge sharing among diferent stakeholders. Through this service, any
research data that is submitted must follow the onboarding process. Every submission onto
the EOSC Portal goes through the process of onboarding, where it is sequentially checked in
various quality criteria set by the EOSC platform, in order to be successfully registered on the
EOSC Registry.</p>
      <p>The EOSC Portal has clear goals and objectives of simplifying and centralizing access to
validated research and data to researchers across Europe. This is done by connecting researchers,
disciplinary infrastructures, and service providers via a platform and cultivating structured rules
for contribution and collaboration. This way the EOSC portal tackles the challenge of exponential
growth of scientific data, enhancing disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and transnational research.
To summarize, EOSC greatly contributes to the growing field of open science. Considering the
contribution that the EOSC has brought on to the field of open science in Europe, by ofering a
centralized platform for validated research, we can state that it acknowledges the potential of
open science and the benefit that open science brings to the research community.</p>
      <p>
        The focus of this paper is to access the quality criteria for a successful onboarding process
onto the EOSC platform. The Gaussian API [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref5">5</xref>
        ] is a RESTful web service for fitting repulsive
potentials in density-functional tight-binding with Gaussian process regression. Considering
the fact that The Gaussian API is a web service that has been already approved and published
on the EOSC, it is a perfect model for analyzing and describing the quality requirements, as
well as elaborating on its successes and failures in terms of EOSC standards.
      </p>
      <p>Section 2 presents the Related work in the field. Section 3 describes and elaborates on the
steps and requirements of the onboarding process. The goal of this section is to be familiarized
with the terms and the structure put in place by EOSC for the onboarding process, before
moving on to the Case Study. Section 4 introduces the Gaussian API RESTful web service. The
article then goes into an outline of the best practices and lessons learnt by integrating The
Gaussian API into the EOSC platform.</p>
    </sec>
    <sec id="sec-2">
      <title>2. Related work</title>
      <p>This section provides an overview of existing research studies that describe platforms that
support Open Science or/and are similar to EOCS and some research papers that describe the
experience of onboarding services to EOSC.</p>
      <p>
        The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref6">6</xref>
        ] is an Australian initiative that supports
the management, sharing, and reuse of research data. It ofers infrastructure, tools, and services
to enable data-intensive research. ARDC shares a similarity with EOSC, in the way that this
platform supports service onboarding, allowing researchers to integrate their own services into
the platform and make them available to the research community.
      </p>
      <p>
        A similar concept to EOSC in terms of resource sharing and collaboration is the
cloudbased infrastructure, Galaxy Project. The Galaxy Project’s public webserver is an open-source
collection of bioinformatics tools, used by researchers to analyze large biomedical datasets. The
works [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref7 ref8">7, 8</xref>
        ] explore a use-case and provide a discussion on Galaxy Project’s functionality.
      </p>
      <p>
        The European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) is recognized as a key asset for the European Open
Science Cloud (EOSC), particularly for the Federating Core. While EGI and EOSC are not
identical platforms, they share a common focus on open science and have provided great
support to international research across diferent scientific disciplines [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref9">9</xref>
        ]. On its own, EGI
is an independent, comprehensive, overall hardware and software infrastructure that aims to
develop a grid middleware for the needs of the scientific European society, which would allow
sharing of data and computational resources, as well as helping to create a more integrated and
interconnected research environment in Europe and beyond.
      </p>
      <p>
        In [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref10 ref11">10, 11</xref>
        ], the authors provide a case-study on the topic of the EOSC Integration of the project
NEANIAS. Here, the papers elaborate on their eforts to obtain a FAIR (Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, Reusable) service which is a key requirement for EOSC. In [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref12">12</xref>
        ], the authors
discuss the FAIR principles in the Astrophysics community through a service called ESCAPE.
Here, the paper elaborates on ESCAPE’s onboarding process, how it has been adapted to FAIR
principles, and potential future steps that can be taken toward FAIR maturity.
      </p>
    </sec>
    <sec id="sec-3">
      <title>3. Onboarding to EOSC</title>
      <p>
        The onboarding process in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) enables organizations to
become service providers, contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge [
        <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref13 ref14">13, 14</xref>
        ]. This
process consists of the request submission, information gathering, validation, and publication
stages, each incorporating quality assurance measures to ensure the integrity and reliability of
the services ofered.
      </p>
      <sec id="sec-3-1">
        <title>3.1. EOSC onboarding process</title>
        <p>This subsection provides a concise overview of the EOSC onboarding process for organizations
aspiring to become service providers. It emphasizes the significance of understanding the key
stages involved in this process. The EOSC onboarding process is visually represented in Figure
2, providing a clear illustration of the steps involved. These phases and quality assurance
techniques, when combined, lay a solid basis for easy integration and assure high-quality
services throughout the EOSC ecosystem.</p>
        <p>Submit the request via EOSC Portal.</p>
        <p>Organizations can start the onboarding procedure by requesting to become service providers
inside the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by submitting a request via the EOSC Portal
and employing a specific form submission procedure. The details included in the request act
as an internal ticket, making it easier to trace and handle the submission. The possibility to
join the EOSC ecosystem is available to the organization once it meets the prerequisites for
participation. Organizations may get several benefits by joining the EOSC ecosystem, including
the growth of their user base, access to insightful data and feedback, active participation in
EOSC policy formulation, and contribution to the platform’s ongoing improvement.</p>
        <p>Information gathering.</p>
        <p>During the information-gathering stage of the onboarding process, service providers are
required to complete a service description template, providing comprehensive details about their
oferings. The template includes mandatory fields such as service name, service URL, service
endpoint, service description, service tagline, and service logo. Additional information fields
may be provided for supplementary details. The service’s maturity level is also evaluated using
TRL criteria to assess its development stage and user validation. By completing the template,
service providers contribute essential information for the evaluation and validation of their
services within the EOSC ecosystem.</p>
        <p>Validation.</p>
        <p>The details supplied in the Service Description template are used as the basis for a thorough
validation and assessment process that service providers go through. This procedure comprises
thorough content checking and the delivery of clarification-related comments. The evaluation
addresses a number of crucial factors to guarantee the accuracy, dependability, and compliance
of the services provided. After the data has been verified, it is added to the EOSC Service
Portfolio, which serves as a repository for services that have been authorized and verified
within the EOSC ecosystem. The EOSC user community will only have access to services that
adhere to the necessary criteria thanks to this extensive validation and inclusion procedure.</p>
        <p>Publication.</p>
        <p>The publishing process of a service begins by adding the completed service description
template to the EOSC Marketplace on the EOSC Portal. Subsequently, the Marketplace platform
requests that service providers create an account. Service providers have the opportunity to
review and modify their draft entries. Upon publication, these services become accessible to
users, facilitating the progress of scientific knowledge within the EOSC ecosystem.</p>
      </sec>
      <sec id="sec-3-2">
        <title>3.2. EOSC quality requiements</title>
        <p>This section stresses the critical role of quality assurance in the onboarding process, emphasizing
the precise requirements established by various sources that enterprises must meet at each
stage.</p>
        <p>
          Service providers undergo a comprehensive evaluation process based on the [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref15">15</xref>
          ]. Alignment
with EOSC activities is a crucial requirement, ensuring that the service actively contributes
to the advancement of Open Science and provides value to users. Service type verification
categorizes services into online services and ’human’ services, excluding direct onboarding of
plain datasets and software artifacts. The evaluation also assesses the service’s maturity level,
determined by its Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Assessing the Technology Readiness Level
(TRL) [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref16">16</xref>
          ], ranging from 1 to 9, ensures the necessary technological maturity and validation for
easy integration into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) ecosystem. Meeting a minimum
requirement of TRL 7 indicates successful usage by early adopter scientists. The details about
the required TRL levels and their corresponding characteristics can be found in Table 1 [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref17">17</xref>
          ].
        </p>
        <p>
          The EOSC portal [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2">2</xref>
          ] specifies additional prerequisites that providers must fulfill to be listed
on the platform. Firstly, accessibility is emphasized, aiming to extend the service’s availability
to users beyond its original community and enabling a broader range of users to benefit from
its functionalities.
        </p>
        <p>Providers are expected to describe their service using a standardized template that highlights
its value proposition and functional capabilities. Completing all mandatory fields in the service</p>
        <p>TRL Scale
A critical stage in technology development where a system prototype is
demonstrated in an operational environment. The software is stable and reliable, having
undergone validation by target users. Documentation includes comprehensive
functionality requirements and plans to handle system load during production.</p>
        <p>The system is complete and qualified for practical use. Real users rely on the service
for their work. To ensure adoption and user satisfaction, the service is supported by
comprehensive end-user documentation, an acceptable use policy, and service-level
agreements (SLAs). Incident response and problem management mechanisms are
established to promptly address issues and provide efective user support.</p>
        <p>The technology reaches its highest level of maturity, representing an actual system
that has proven its worth in an operational environment. It has fulfilled all the
requirements of TRL 8 and has been successfully serving users for a minimum
duration of one year. Feedback from customers is actively collected and documented,
contributing to ongoing improvements. Additionally, the service must demonstrate
quntitative outputs resulting from its usage.
description template is crucial to provide comprehensive insights into the service’s features,
functionalities, and benefits.</p>
        <p>Operational readiness, with at least one instance of the service required to be operational in
a production environment, actively serving the user community. Additionally, adherence to the
FAIR principles for research data is emphasized, ensuring that data is easily findable, accessible,
interoperable, and reusable for maximum impact. Thorough documentation, including release
notes and instructional materials, is essential to keep users informed about updates, changes,
and usage guidelines.</p>
        <p>Lastly, providers must establish efective support and feedback channels, such as helpdesks,
to assist users, address issues, and gather valuable feedback.</p>
        <p>To ensure smooth integration and optimal user experience, providers are required to register
their services in an EOSC-compliant or compatible catalogue for global visibility.</p>
        <p>
          Interoperability and simplified service discovery are facilitated through machine-readable
service descriptions with common and persistent identification methods. Portability of data and
services is encouraged whenever possible. Clear and transparent Terms of Use, encompassing
access policies and data handling guidelines, provide users with a comprehensive understanding
of the services. Furthermore, providers have the flexibility to customize services based on
userspecific needs. Efective integration within the EOSC ecosystem relies on describing accessibility
and interoperability measures such as metadata practices, APIs, and protocols. Adhering
to quality guidelines, including Technology Readiness Level assessments and certifications,
promotes reliability and performance [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref13">13</xref>
          ].
        </p>
        <p>
          Non-compliance with the requirements during the Portal Onboarding process can result in
various actions, including requesting amendments to the resource description, participation in
information/training sessions, or rejection of the resource. Failure to address the deficiencies or
update the resource may lead to rejection and potential suspension of the provider from the
platform [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref18">18</xref>
          ].
        </p>
      </sec>
    </sec>
    <sec id="sec-4">
      <title>4. Case study: Onboarding the Gaussian API</title>
      <sec id="sec-4-1">
        <title>4.1. Gaussian API service</title>
        <p>
          The Gaussian API [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref5">5</xref>
          ] is a RESTful web service intended for fitting repulsive potentials in
density functional tight-binding with Gaussian process regression. DFTB is comprised of a
sequence of models obtained through a Taylor series expansion of the total energy within the
KS-DFT framework.[
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref19">19</xref>
          ] The source code is based on the idea and code presented in [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref20">20</xref>
          ], but
it is made as REST API, the whole process is automated and additional code adaptations and
modifications are made. The primary reason for making it a RESTful API is to enable integration
and interoperability between diferent software systems.
        </p>
        <p>Due to its popularity in computational chemistry, physics, and other sciences, Gaussian
regression (GPR) combined with molecular dynamics simulations has shown to be useful for the
prediction of various molecular and materials’ properties and functionalities. Additionally, these
approaches can be used to tune the parametrization in approximate computational techniques
in a bias-free way. A good and useful approximate technique is the Density functional tight
binding method (DFTB), which aims to approximate the Density functional theory approach
while giving comparable accuracy at only a fraction of its computational time. Moreover, DFT
simulations that have been unfeasible in computational time can now be implemented using
DFTB.</p>
        <p>
          A great advantage of DFTB is that it allows for direct access to electronic properties. However,
the aforementioned advantages come at the expense of the introduction of empirical parameters,
reducing their transferability. The electronic structure component of DFTB enables the creation
of workflows for transferable parametrization. However, dealing with the repulsive potential
(Vrep) in this context poses challenges. A recent study [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref20">20</xref>
          ] introduced an approach to fit the
Vrep using the GPR method. DFT-DFTB energy or force residues can serve as training data for
this purpose. The approach described in the reference allows for simultaneous application to
multiple elements, like C, H, and O, in molecules with diverse organic components. With some
adjustments, this approach can be easily adapted to other computational tasks. Because of the
complexity of DFTB repulsive potentials, there exists no simple functional form. Thus, fitting
the Vrep to DFT poses the greatest challenge in the parametrization workflow. Consequently,
the Vrep in the GPR method is represented as a linear combination of kernel functions:
︁∑
, ∈{ }
 rep( ) =
   (, 
 )
where   represents the regression coeficients whose summation is carried over all the
atomic pairs within X. The idea is to minimize the diference between the DFTB model and the
DFT reference forces. This is done using a loss function with the form:
 =
        </p>
        <p>︁∑
, ∈{ }
(  −  rep(  ))2 +   ‖ ‖2
where   represents the repulsive potential values alongside   as a regularization parameter.
Their main role is to provide a level of uncertainty in the calculation. Finally, the regression
coeficients are calculated as follows:
 = (
+    )−1
(3)
where K represents the covariance matrix for all atom pairs in X.</p>
        <p>The usage of the API revolves around making an HTTP request to a designated endpoint. The
service provides two methods, POST and GET requests. The POST method, called GPrep, takes
in several parameters including a file from the local device that contains the relevant forces and
distances. On the other hand, the GPrepRemote is a GET method that works similarly to the
POST method, with the exception that instead of an input file it takes a public URL where a
data file resides.</p>
        <p>To invoke the API call, there is a set of necessary parameters that need to be provided as seen
in Figure 3: file that contains the forces and the pair distances; sigma which is the standard
deviation for the data noise; delta, the standard deviation of the latent function; theta, which
symbolizes the length scale of the latent function; beta, the exponential damping factor which
allows for a smooth decay of the function; d, the cutof transition which characterizes the
damping function; and N, the total data points.</p>
        <p>
          The API is integrated with the well-known scientific data storage service B2DROP [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref21">21</xref>
          ], where
the output Slater-Koster [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref22">22</xref>
          ] files will be saved if the calculation is successful. To access the
B2DROP service the user needs to provide their username and password as the last 2 parameters
to the API call.
        </p>
      </sec>
      <sec id="sec-4-2">
        <title>4.2. The onboadring story</title>
        <p>
          The onboarding process of the Gaussian API service is shown in Figure 4. As a first step, the
onboarding process was initiated by the NI4OS project [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref23">23</xref>
          ] operational team by providing a
dedicated form and submitting a request to the EOSC.
        </p>
        <p>
          Upon submitting the request, relevant information regarding the service was provided using
the NI4OS project service portfolio. These include service description, technology readiness
level, domain, target users, access type and mode, as well as links to the user manual and user
support. In order to register the service, the services portfolio management tool - AGORA
[
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref24">24</xref>
          ] was used. The basic information such as the organization, name, location, and relevant
background details were specified. Furthermore, the research field domain in which the service
relates to aiding users in finding relevant services was selected. In addition, a logo, a description,
and contact information were entered.
        </p>
        <p>
          Then, the resource was integrated within the NI4OS pre-production environment where it was
additionally validated by tools from the environment. The next step in the onboarding process
was the definition of policies. These include the user policy, terms of use, access policy, and
privacy policy. Additionally, a user manual describing the usage of the service was crafted. For
a deeper understanding of the service usage, a training course on a dedicated training platform
was published [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref25">25</xref>
          ]. The integration with the pre-production environment included providing
user support via the helpdesk system, as well as monitoring the health, status, availability, and
reliability through the ARGO monitoring system [
          <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref26">26</xref>
          ]. The integration with the accounting
system provided utilization data for diferent time periods.
        </p>
        <p>Next, the service was uploaded to the NI4OS service catalog, and later, the resource was
published in the EOSC marketplace.</p>
      </sec>
      <sec id="sec-4-3">
        <title>4.3. Lessons learned</title>
        <p>During the onboarding process we have learned important lessons and identified best practices
for service providers to successfully onboard their services to the European Open Science Cloud
(EOSC) platform.</p>
        <p>Interoperability. Interoperability is crucial for services in the EOSC. It means they can
easily communicate, share data, and collaborate with other EOSC components. Interoperability
ensures eficient resource integration, supports interdisciplinary research, and encourages data
and service sharing.</p>
        <p>Data Management and FAIR Principles. Service providers should support efective data
management practices aligned with the FAIR principles—Findability, Accessibility,
Interoperability, and Reusability.</p>
        <p>Accessibility and Availability. Services should be accessible to users beyond their original
community. This involves making services available to diverse user groups, regardless of their
technical background or geographic location. Ensuring availability ensures uninterrupted access
to services at all times.</p>
        <p>Security and Privacy. Services must prioritize the security and privacy of user data.
Compliance with data protection regulations, and privacy-enhancing technologies are essential to
establish trust and protect sensitive information.</p>
        <p>Quality Assurance and Testing. Service providers must prioritize quality assurance and
testing to ensure reliable and high-quality services. This involves implementing testing
frameworks, conducting regular quality checks, and promptly addressing any identified issues.</p>
        <p>Support and Documentation. Service providers should ofer comprehensive support and
documentation to assist users in using their services efectively. This includes providing clear and
up-to-date documentation, FAQs, tutorials, and user forums. Service providers should provide
user guides, tutorials, and training materials. These resources improve the user experience and
help users resolve any issues or questions they may have.</p>
        <p>Collaboration and EOSC Community Engagement. Service providers should actively
engage with the EOSC community, collaborate with other service providers, and participate in
relevant working groups or initiatives. This promotes knowledge sharing and the development
of interoperable services.</p>
        <p>Continuous Improvement. Service providers should continuously improve their services
by actively seeking user feedback, analyzing usage data, and conducting assessments. This
iterative process allows for service improvements and ensures that the user needs are addressed.</p>
      </sec>
    </sec>
    <sec id="sec-5">
      <title>5. Conclusion</title>
      <p>The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) gives academics, institutions, and service providers
a huge chance to contribute to open science. This paper explained the process of onboarding
services to the EOSC, highlighting essential factors and best practices.</p>
      <p>Several important lessons have been learned during the onboarding process, and these lessons
have identified best practices for service providers to successfully onboard their services to
the EOSC platform. The way that service providers develop and onboard their resources must
be consistent with the core principles of the EOSC. Adhering to the FAIR guiding principles,
considering interoperability, implementing user-centric design, providing documentation and
metadata, providing service availability, and continually improving services based on user
feedback are a few of these.</p>
      <p>For the purpose of ofering dependable and high-quality services, quality assurance and testing
are essential. Organizations that prioritize quality assurance demonstrate their dedication to
providing great services that conform to the highest standards of dependability, compliance,
and user satisfaction.</p>
      <p>By following these practices, service providers may help the EOSC develop and succeed while
giving researchers access to a variety of tools and data sources that support their research. The
EOSC has the ability to transform the research environment by promoting cooperation and
open science.</p>
    </sec>
    <sec id="sec-6">
      <title>Acknowledgments</title>
      <p>This work was supported in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme, project National Initiatives for Open Science - Europe, NI4OS-Europe, [857645]
and by the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Skopje, North Macedonia.</p>
    </sec>
  </body>
  <back>
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