An unprecedented number of scientists are working worldwide to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19). In order to understand the disease and to develop treatments and vaccines, sharing data and findings in a coordinated way is key. This is why the European Commission has launched a European COVID-19 Data Platform. The idea behind is that openly and rapidly sharing data greatly accelerates research and discovery, which will contribute to an effective response to the coronavirus emergency. The platform is an open, trusted and scalable European and global environment where researchers can share and access datasets, such as DNA sequences, protein structures, data from pre-clinical research and clinical trials, as well as epidemiological data.
The platform is the result of a joint effort by the Commission, the European Bioinformatics Institute of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EBI), the Elixir infrastructure and the COMPARE project, as well as the EU Member States and other partners.
The platform is part of the ERAvsCorona Action Plan. The action plan is a joint effort from research and innovation ministers from all Member States. They met on 7 April 2020 where they agreed on 10 priority actions for the first ERAvsCorona Action Plan.