The above initiatives have also raised awareness of national ministries for the necessity of local programmes and financial support for eInfrastructures: a number of ministries have contributed to local network funding and regional interconnections, as well as national Grid programmes. SEERA-EI will capitalise on this momentum and link national-level programme managers and provide an open forum for information exchange, in order to enable coordination of national programmes in eInfrastructures, and to set the framework for a common regional agenda.

The project will gather and exchange information regarding current programmes and carry out a state-of-the-art analysis; produce set of best practices and guidelines for national eInfrastructure programmes; and identify areas for joint regional activities, ranging from short-term soft actions, mid-term policy-level actions, to preparatory activities for long-term actions. SEERA-EI will reduce fragmentation of national programmes, create a harmonized approach to national-level initiatives in eInfrastructures, ensure local commitment, and pave the way towards common regional vision, strategy and sustainable cooperation which will give the region a common voice on European and international stage and strengthen the ERA as a whole, enabling collaborative high-quality research across a spectrum of scientific fields.