LIFES Conference - held on 2 july 2025 - Poortgebouw Leiden
Jointly evolving the ecosystem for FAIR & equitable data reuse
LIFES, a vibrant and growing community of public and private partners who work together to realise a new, machine assisted and equitable environment for global open innovation. The conference gathered internationally renowned visionaries as well as hands-on practical implementers.
Thank you for
your contribution
The LIFES conference marked the conclusion of the initiative’s conceptual phase and the official establishment of the LIFES Association under Dutch law. With 29 LIFES members from both public and private sectors, the association is united by a shared commitment to implementing the FAIR principles and related technologies. The conference also served as the association’s inaugural meeting, highlighting the ambition to foster an Internet of FAIR Data and Services that ensures equitable data reuse for science and innovation.
The event featured three thematic panels focused on ‘connect’, ‘innovate’, and ‘implement’, where members shared pioneering efforts. Discussions covered making distributed analytics systems interoperable through lightweight, machine-actionable semantic layers, and emphasized that being Fully AI Ready requires not only technical formatting but also explainability and access control. Equitable access was another key topic, covering the needs of both global innovators and major data-intensive industries, highlighting the importance of inclusivity in FAIR data efforts.
A networking lunch showcased member-led demos, followed by strategic discussions on scaling efforts via Recognised Expert Communities (RECs). These RECs may be topical or regional, supporting localized FAIR data initiatives. The presentation of a "Starter Kit" concept was well received, aimed at easing new members into the ecosystem. The conference closed on an energetic note, with new collaborations and a strong forward-looking agenda.
Meeting reports in the member area (accessible for LIFES members) wil follow later.
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Programme
Banners & demos
Floorplan
Conference Overview
Connect - 10:00 - 11:00
The opening session highlighted the importance of connecting global initiatives that promote FAIR and equitable science and innovation. Speakers addressed the need for shared infrastructures and inclusive collaboration to avoid fragmentation and inefficiencies. Emphasizing a bottom-up, coalition-based approach, the session explores perspectives from global, African, European, and national contexts—focusing on the need for truly open public-private innovation.
Speakers: Robbert Dijkgraaf | Lise Korsten | Jean-Claude Burgelman | Barend Mons
Innovate - 11:00 - 13:00
In a series of interactive panels, LIFES members explored how they are advancing collaborative, open innovation. Innovation within LIFES means moving from ideas to practical implementations. The panels highlighted three key developments: the FAIR-talk Library, FAIR-talk specifications for distributed analytics, and the FAIR Starter Kit with sandbox offerings. Discussions focused on the shift from traditional data sharing to ‘data visiting’ - a crucial step toward AI-readiness and equitable global data reuse.
Three interactive panels: Towards FAIR Data Visiting | FAIR as Fully AI Ready | Equitable Reuse
Lunch & Networking Break - 13:00-14:45
During the lunch and networking break there was ample opportunity to meet and network. LIFES Members brought banners and gave presentations and demo's.
Implement - 14:45 - 16:30
The final session focusesd on scaling innovation into practice. While LIFES itself does not implement, its members do—using open standards and minimal, robust protocols to enable diverse, non-monopolistic implementations. A panel of policymakers, funders, scientists, and industry leaders discussed how to scale and sustain these efforts. The session also included demonstrations of the LIFES Starter Kit and sandbox solutions from participating service providers.
Panel includes: Esther Peters | Nico van Meeteren | Karel Luyben | Robert-Jan Smits | Margreet Bloemers | Marleen Eijkholt | Norbert van Dijk | Peter Verkoulen | Annemarie Trompert | Martijn Kooijmans | Celine van de Laar | Giovanni Nisato
Drinks & Networking - 16:30-18:00
We concluded the conference with drinks and further networking opportunities!
A warm thank you
to our many
speakers
A selection is listed below.
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Robbert Dijkgraaf is university professor of Science and Society from an International Perspective at the University of Amsterdam and president-elect of the International Science Council. He served as Minister of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands from 2022-2024. Dijkgraaf’s research focuses particularly on the interface between theoretical particle physics and mathematics, a blossoming field that has led to many unexpected breakthroughs in both disciplines. Dijkgraaf has a long track record in science policy and advice, as president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2008-2012), chief science advisor to the Dutch government, and in the Innovation Platform, advising the cabinet on research and innovation policies.
Lise Korsten
Lise Korsten is President of the African Academy of Sciences and the Co-Director of the Department of Science and Innovation, Centre of Excellence in Food Security. She is also responsible for the food safety and regulatory control programmes within the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security and actively interacts with other researchers in various institutes. She holds the position of chair in the Global Task Force of Food Security for the International Society for Plant Pathology. Prof Korsten has addressed the South African Parliament on Food Safety Control and has developed a national framework for government to develop a Food Control Authority.
Robert-Jan Smits
Robert-Jan Smits is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Naturalis, the natural history museum and biodiversity research center in The Netherlands as well as of the SieboldHuis. Next to this, he is member of several national and international supervisory and advisory bodies such as the Netherlands National Growth Fund Committee, the Senat of the Leibniz Gemeinschaft (Germany), the Hochschulrat of the Ludwig Maximilian University (Germany), the Board of Trustees of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation (Cyprus), the Icelandic Science and Innovation Council
(Iceland), the International Advisory Board of the Research Council of Norway (Norway).
Esther Peters
Esther Peters is the Director of the Leiden Bio Science Park Foundation (LBSP), the Netherlands' largest life sciences and health innovation district. She assumed this role on October 1, 2023, succeeding Ida Haisma. With a background in law from Utrecht University, Peters has built a distinguished career spanning corporate, academic, and governmental sectors. Her previous positions include roles at Loeff Claeys Verbeke, VNU Business Publications, Achmea, Erasmus University, and the municipalities of Leiden and Oegstgeest. Notably, she served as the director of the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk, transforming it into a leading European space hub with a vibrant, internationally oriented innovation ecosystem.
Nico van Meeteren
Nico van Meeteren is a prominent figure in the Dutch health and innovation landscape, serving as the Executive Director and Secretary General of the Topsector Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland). In this capacity, he leads national efforts to foster public-private partnerships and drive mission-driven innovation aimed at enhancing health and care across the Netherlands. In addition to his leadership at Health~Holland, Van Meeteren holds the position of Professor of Perioperative Health at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. His academic work focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of scientifically substantiated health interventions, particularly those addressing physical, mental, and social functioning challenges during major life events in vulnerable populations.
Peter Verkoulen
Peter Verkoulen has been working at the interface of content, commerce, development and management in ICT for over 30 years. He is the programme director of the Centre of Excellence for Data Sharing & Cloud. From this CoE-DSC, there is close cooperation with amongst others Gaia-X, IDSA, DSSC, Simpl and the AIC4NL.
Until the end of 2022, he was the coalition manager of the Dutch Blockchain Coalition. Before that, he was CEO of the Brightlands Smart Services Campus for over 4 years.
Jean-Claude Burgelman
Jean-Claude Burgelman is emeritus professor social sciences at the Free University of Brussels. He retired in 2020 from the European Commission Brussels where he was in charge from 2014 onwards, of Open Science at the Diretorate General for Research and Innovation. His team developed the EC’s polices on open science, the European Open Science Cloud, open data and open access. He joined the European Commission in 1999 as a Visiting Scientist in the Joint Research Centre where he was in charge of socio-economic research on digital technologies.
Karel Luyben
Karel Luyben is Rector Magnificus Emeritus of the Delft University of Technology as of 2018. He was Rector Magnificus of the Delft University of Technology from 2010 till 2018. Before that he served as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences for almost 12 years.
In 1983 he was appointed full professor in Biochemical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, and from there has gained experience in research, starting a SME, research leadership and leading European organisations like the European Federation of Biotechnology, CESAER and now the European Open Science Cloud Association.