ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE

Their core work

ASTI is the Philippines' national ICT research and development institute, operating under the Department of Science and Technology. Their H2020 participation places them squarely within the European open science e-infrastructure ecosystem — they contributed to two of the largest pan-European distributed computing and data infrastructure projects ever funded: EGI-Engage (building the European Grid Infrastructure community) and EOSC-hub (integrating services for the European Open Science Cloud). In practice, their value to these consortia lies in bridging Southeast Asian research computing capacity with European cloud and grid platforms, demonstrating the global reach of open science infrastructure. They bring government-backed national ICT authority, institutional credibility, and regional network access in Southeast Asia to any international research infrastructure partnership.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ASTI's H2020 trajectory is compact but directional: their earlier project (EGI-Engage, 2015–2017) was rooted in grid infrastructure community-building — the pre-cloud era of distributed European scientific computing. Their later involvement (EOSC-hub, 2018–2021) marks a clear shift toward the EOSC paradigm: cloud-native service integration, FAIR data principles, and multi-platform interoperability (EGI, EUDAT, INDIGO-DataCloud converging into one brokered hub). The evolution mirrors the broader EU transition from grid-centric HPC communities toward open, federated cloud platforms for science.

ASTI is tracking the European open science infrastructure stack as it matures — moving from grid participation toward EOSC-aligned cloud services, which positions them well for any future collaboration in EOSC, GÉANT, or Destination Earth-type initiatives.

How they like to work

ASTI has not led any H2020 project — both participations are as non-coordinating members, which is entirely expected for a non-EU institution in EU-funded research. They operate within very large consortia: both EGI-Engage and EOSC-hub were among the most partner-rich projects in the INFRAEDI call, each with 50–100+ consortium members. This means ASTI contributes specific, scoped deliverables within a well-managed large structure rather than driving project direction. For a potential partner, they are a low-friction, well-networked node — valuable for international reach and Southeast Asian institutional access rather than as a consortium leader.

Despite only two projects, ASTI has accumulated 123 unique consortium partners across 35 countries — a reflection of the unusually broad consortia typical of EINFRA flagship projects. Their network is predominantly European (EU member states, CERN, major research computing institutes) with ASTI itself representing the Southeast Asian node.

What sets them apart

ASTI is one of very few non-European government research institutes to have participated in both the EGI and EOSC flagship infrastructure programmes — a genuinely rare credential outside the EU/EEA. As the Philippines' national ICT R&D authority, they carry institutional weight that a private contractor or university lab cannot replicate: government-to-government credibility, national mandate, and the ability to commit state-level computing or data resources. For a consortium that needs to demonstrate global uptake of European open science infrastructure, or that requires a trusted Southeast Asian institutional partner, ASTI is difficult to substitute.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EOSC-hub
  One of the most ambitious H2020 infrastructure projects — the operational backbone of the European Open Science Cloud — making ASTI's third-party role a direct link to the EU's flagship open research data platform.
• EGI-Engage
  Foundational project for the European Grid Infrastructure community, giving ASTI early positioning in EU e-infrastructure networks before the EOSC era fully began.