Code of conduct

Code of conduct

1.  DestinE Platform Overview

The Destination Earth (DestinE) Platform is the operational user access focal point for the European Union initiative to create a high-precision digital model of the Earth. The DestinE Platform provides user-friendly access to a wide range of applications, tools and services that leverage the use of data generated by DestinE.

The DestinE Platform is designed to work together with the other components of DestinE, namely the Digital Twin Engine implemented by ECMWF and the Data Lake provided by EUMETSAT. As these components become progressively available, The DestinE Platform will grant users access to a growing number of Digital Twins and simulated data.

The DestinE Platform challenge is to provide users with all the tools and services needed to foster their participation in the creation of a vibrant user community. DestinE Platform users will be diverse, going from citizens approaching DestinE ecosystem to high-experienced users looking for advanced services, and new Service Providers willing to integrate their own data, develop their own applications and customise the platform.

To meet these expectations, the DestinE Platform is conceived as an open framework. The platform will also leverage the development of related third-party initiatives and facilitate interoperability with other European initiatives or programmes, such as Copernicus.

2.  Purpose of the DestinE Platform Code of Conduct

The DestinE Platform Code of Conduct aims to guarantee the provision and usage of an environment safeguarding the freedom of expression, access to information, and other human rights, while ensuring an open, safe, and secure environment for platform registered and unregistered users[1]. The DestinE Platform Code of Conduct outlines the responsibilities of different stakeholders in this regard, setting out the basic principles for the governance system of the DestinE Platform with a human rights-based approach.

Moreover, this Code of Conduct defines the basic requirements for the platform relationship towards the stakeholders, social surroundings and the environment. In particular, the DestinE Platform views sustainable development as an integral part of its processes and has incorporated sustainability principles into its internal operations.

DestinE Platform Code of Conduct is presented to all DestinE Platform actors upon registration for their acknowledgement and acceptance.

3.  DestinE Platform Values

It is expected that stakeholders accessing the services adhere to the core values listed below. By embracing these principles, the DestinE Platform aims to cultivate a productive and inclusive community.

  • Integrity: We believe in conducting ourselves with honesty, transparency, and fairness in all aspects of our work. The Consortium strives to make the DestinE Platform Framework safe space for everyone. Every DestinE Platform user has the right to feel safe and welcome when he engages with the platform and the Consortium is committed to creating an environment of equality for all.
  • Respect: We value diversity, treat others with dignity and respect, and foster an inclusive environment. We strive to safeguard freedom of expression while at the same time we combat hate speech, disinformation and misinformation. We do not tolerate harassment or bullying of any community member in any form.
  • Excellence: We are committed to achieving excellence, striving for continuous improvement, innovation and the highest standards of quality. We recognise the pivotal role our digital platform plays in contributing to objectives of the EU Digital Strategy.
  • Sustainability: We acknowledge our responsibility to promote sustainable development by integrating environmental, social and economic considerations into our business practices. We actively promote the adoption of sustainable practices in both our external and internal processes to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the European Green Deal.
  • Adaptation to climate change: We strive to take actions to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change, in accordance to the EU Adaptation Strategy.
  • Customer Focus: We prioritise the needs and satisfaction of our customers, building long-term relationships based on trust, reliability, and mutual benefit.
  • Localisation: We are dedicated to supporting local exploitation of our services and data, in particular by service providers who adhere to EU regulations, ensuring compliance and alignment with European standards and values.

4.  Sections of the Code of Conduct

DestinE Platform values the safety and security of all of our members and users. Because of that, we will not tolerate any form of harassment or discrimination. To this end in this page we:

  • Provide a statement of intent for members of our community;
  • Provide the code of conduct for members of our community;
  • Outline and define forms of harassment and discrimination;
  • Outline the consequences for those who engage in harassing or discriminatory behaviour;
  • Provide a system for reporting any harassing or discriminatory behaviour;
  • Commit to a periodic review of the code of conduct.

4.1    Statement of Intent of the DestinE Platform

The DestinE Platform Community is an engaged and respectful community made up of people from all over the world.

In fact, The DestinE Platform is designed to grow in terms of user basis and service offer via a Service Onboarding process that will allow Service Providers to make their services available to the platform end-user community. Moreover, the Web Forum enables registered or federated users to engage in discussion, share tips and best practices.

Your involvement helps us to further our mission and to create an open platform that serves a broad range of communities, from research and education to industry and beyond.

The DestinE Platform provides a respectful, harassment-free community for everyone. We do not tolerate harassment or bullying of any community member in any form. This applies equally to founders, developers, and new community members, in all spaces managed by the DestinE Platform . This includes the mailing lists, our GitHub organizations, our forum, in-person events, and any other channel or meeting created by the project team. In addition, violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate within them.

4.2    Code of Conduct

  1. Be friendly, patient, and welcoming.

We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to, members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, color, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, physical appearance, family status, technological or professional choices, academic discipline, religion, mental ability, and physical ability.

  1. Be considerate and respectful.

Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions.

Remember that we’re a world-wide community, and that you may be communicating with someone with a different primary language or cultural background. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour or poor manners. Do not insult or put down other community members. A community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.

  1. Consider Impact vs. Intent.

Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and the DestinE Platform is no exception. People perceive their own behaviours very differently than others perceive them. What motivates one person may cause stress for another. A few steps worth remembering to include the following:

Other people do not see things the same way you do, do not feel the same as you, or interpret the world the way you do. Consider different people’s perspectives on things like change, drive, structure, process, big picture, and small details.

Ask for feedback and listen to them.

Blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere, while we can learn from mistakes to find better solutions.

  1. A simple apology can go a long way.

It can often de-escalate a situation, and telling someone that you are sorry is an act of empathy that doesn’t automatically imply an admission of guilt.

Rather than considering this code an exhaustive list of things that you can’t do, take it in the spirit it is intended – a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us and the communities in which we participate. By embracing the following principles, guidelines and actions to follow or avoid, you will help us make the DestinE Platform a welcoming and productive community. Feel free to Contact Us if you have any questions for the Code of Conduct Committee.

4.3    Forms of Harassment

We do not tolerate harassment or bullying of any community member in any form. Forms of harassment include, but is not limited to:

  • Violent threats or violent language directed against another person;
  • Discriminatory jokes and language;
  • Posting sexually explicit or violent material;
  • Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”);
  • Personal insults, especially those related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed;
  • Unwelcome sexual attention, stalking;
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour;
  • Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.

Please note that harassment is not discussing or criticising oppressive behaviour and assumptions.

4.4    Consequences for Harassment and Discrimination

If a member of the community at large engages in behaviour which is harassing or discriminatory in any way, once the incident is reported, the Code of Conduct Committee may take any action they deem appropriate listed in the Enforcement Manual. These actions include, but are not limited to, issuing a warning, requiring an apology, or a permanent or temporary ban from some or all the DestinE Platform spaces (mailing list, etc.).

5.  How to report Harassment and Discrimination

If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct, please report this in a timely manner. Code of conduct violations reduce the value of the community for everyone, and we take them seriously.

You can file a report by filing out the form reported in the Web Portal. The online form gives you the option to keep your report anonymous or request that we follow up with you directly. While we cannot follow up on an anonymous report, we will take appropriate action.

For information on enforcement, please view the Enforcement Manual (see Section 6.1 below).

5.1    Enforcement Manual

The enforcement of the Code of Conduct is provided in several ways.

  1. For what concerns user’s behaviour, every user’s content (posts, feedbacks, questions) is subject to moderation as well as any other content published on the platform. Failure to comply with the restrictions as laid out in T&C (Communication) constitutes a material breach of the Code of Conduct. Violation can be reported by the user of the platform via dedicated channels (Service Desk). The DestinE Platform Service Desk will inform the user of the breach and the actions that will be taken, providing an opportunity to appeal or provide additional information. Actions may include immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of right to use the DestinE Platform.
  2. For what concerns the usage of the platform and the alignment of the offered services with the scope of the DestinE Platform, the enforcement will be part of the onboarding procedure, that foresees an approval step for a service to be published on the platform.
  • Concerning Security breaches or Data Protection incidents or non-compliance, the DestinE Platform Security Manager will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities, and it will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing the user identity to them. In the event of such a breach, the user right to use the DestinE Platform will cease immediately. the DestinE Platform will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect the DestinE Platform users’ computer equipment, computer programmes, data or other proprietary material due to use of the platform or to downloading any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it. The DestinE Platform user should ensure that has appropriate protection against viruses and other security arrangements in place when using the internet.

6.  Periodic Review

The DestinE Platform Code of Conduct is prepared and maintained by Serco, which oversees the DestinE Platform operations.

The DestinE Platform strives to create a positive and inclusive environment. As such, an annual review of the Code of Conduct ensures that it continues to align with this goal and address the needs of our community. The DestinE Platform welcomes feedback from its members.

[1] Unregistered users are required to accept to the CoC and T&C for the subset of actions they are allowed to perform in the DestinE Platform.

Document version information:

Version: 2.2
Last Updated: 7 June 2024

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TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR DESTINATION EARTH (DestinE) USERS GRANTED UPGRADED ACCESS

The following Terms and Conditions are released by the European Commission and will be applicable for the initial stage of the operation of DestinE, which is still under development.

Please read them before registering for the upgraded access to DestinE.

ARTICLE 1: DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, the following definitions apply:

Academia and Research: Public academia and research teams contributing or participating to the development of DestinE, either directly or through EU-funded research projects and activities or through relevant EU Member States or Associated Countries programmes or initiatives.

Associated Country: non-EU country associated to the Digital Europe Programme.

Destination Earth (DestinE): a flagship initiative of the European Commission to develop a highly accurate digital model of the Earth to model, monitor and simulate natural phenomena, hazards and the related human activities.

DestinE Core Service Platform (DestinE Platform): a user-friendly platform that provides a large number of users with evidence-based policy and decision-making tools, applications and services, based on an open, flexible, scalable and evolvable secure cloud-based architecture.

DestinE Data: Earth-system monitoring and prediction system output as provided by Destination Earth Digital Twins, as well as data that are generated by applications for Destination Earth and made available in the DestinE Data Lake.

DestinE Data Lake: a self-standing DestinE system component, interfacing with the Core Service Platform, Digital Twins and Digital Twin Engine, built from geographically distributed physical elements, that references and provides seamless access via GUIs or APIs to data in accordance with the DestinE Data Portfolio. The Data Lake supports near-data processing to maximize throughput and service scalability.

DestinE Data Portfolio: the DestinE Data Portfolio is tailored to user needs and composed of federated data, Digital Twin data and DestinE user generated data with a specified and agreed lifecycle.

(DestinE) Digital Twin(s) (DT(s)): Highly accurate replicas of the Earth-system that simulate the system’s behaviour, allowing to monitor and predict environmental change, test scientific hypotheses and adaptation scenarios. DestinE’s DTs combine several cutting-edge Earth-system models and Earth observations as well as advanced data analytics and integration and interoperability with impact sector applications. They are DestinE system components, interfacing with the Digital Twin Engine, offering a seamless production service of actionable knowledge for users that results from the fusion of observational and simulated data of the physical Earth system and of impact-sector relevant information.

Digital Twin Engine (DTE): Software-defined environment to operate DestinE’s DTs and manage their corresponding control and data flows across distributed HPC and cloud computing resources. It provides a common system approach to a unified orchestration of Earth-system Digital Twins. Moreover, it creates a framework for the fusion of observations with Earth-system simulations and the integration of applications targeting specific impact-sectors via selected use cases. The DTE enables the porting and optimization of codes, developing and managing the digital twin workflows, and provides the data handling and model interaction and interactivity capabilities that run on diverse HPC and cloud infrastructures including the Data Warehouse hosted on the data bridges. The DTE concept focuses on interoperability and interactivity and delivers the expected access agility and performance for the digital twins and associated data access.

DestinE Entrusted Entity: an entity implementing respective entrusted tasks in connection with DestinE in accordance with their respective contribution agreements, such as ECMWF, ESA and EUMETSAT.

DestinE Entrusted Entity’s Contractor(s): a legal entity with which a DestinE Entrusted Entity has a contract for provision of services, supplies or works for the implementation of DestinE in accordance with a respective contribution agreement.

DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access: all services accessible to Users Granted Upgraded Access through DestinE Platform.

EU Emblem: The official emblem of the European Union. Download the EU Emblem and graphical information

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): any exclusive or non-exclusive right which exist in any intellectual property, in particular (but not limited to) any copyrights, database rights, patents, trademarks, service marks, design rights, or trade secrets together with any benefits which such Intellectual Property Rights give to the holder, in particular (but not limited to) the right to use, copy, modify, correct, adapt, enhance, improve, update, make new releases or new versions of, make derivative works of, offer, sell, lease, rent, license, distribute in any other way against or without payment, display, broadcast, transmit, or make accessible in networks (e.g. Internet, Intranet) the intellectual property in question in whole or in part and any copies thereof.

Member States: the States which are members of the European Union.

User Granted Upgraded Access (User): a registered user whose Upgraded Access to DestinE has been validated by the European Commission. Users Granted Upgraded Access are the following categories: Public authorities, Academia and Research, SMEs and start-ups, Third-country public authorities, DestinE Entrusted Entities’ staff and DestinE Entrusted Entities’ Contractors.

Public authorities: selected public authorities of EU Member States and Associated Countries. These include the EU institutions, agencies and bodies, public authorities of EU Member States and Associated Countries that have been granted Upgraded Access to the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data for official duty activities.

SME’s & start-ups:           EU and Associated Countries SME’s and start-ups contributing to or participating in the implementation and further development of DestinE.

Third country public authorities: selected third country public authorities following EU’s international commitments. These include The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States (NOAA), other public sector entities authorised under the AI4Good Administrative Agreement, and selected public authorities from the member states of DestinE Entrusted Entities.

Upgraded Access: access to all DestinE’s (advanced) features and services available on the DestinE Platform to test, help improve and develop the system.

ARTICLE 2: GRANT OF RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS

2.1. The European Commission grants the User personal access to the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data strictly for official use within the scope of activities of the User, subject to the User’s acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

2.2. The Users’ access rights are linked to their personal accounts and are non-transferable.

2.3 The User may only create and distribute services/applications/tools/data from which the original DestinE Data cannot be retrieved or reverse engineered.

2.4. The User shall not use the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data or any associated data, software, documentation, or other information for any purpose that contradicts the purposes outlined in Articles 2.1 and 2.3 without the prior written consent of the European Commission.

2.5. The User shall not reproduce, distribute, license, transfer, assign, sell, disclose to, or otherwise forward the DestinE Data or any associated data, software, documentation, or other information to any third party without the prior written consent of the European Commission.

ARTICLE 3: OWNERSHIP, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, AND ATTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS

3.1. The DestinE Data remain the exclusive property of the European Union. The User’s rights to use the DestinE Data are specified in these Terms and Conditions, and the European Union retains all rights not expressly granted to the User in this document. The User may be required to clear additional rights if a specific content depicts identifiable private individuals or includes third-party works. To use or reproduce content that is not owned by the European Union, you may need to seek permission directly from the rightsholders.

3.2. The User acknowledges that all intellectual property rights to the DestinE Data belong to the European Union.

3.3. Subject to Articles 3.1 and 3.2, the intellectual property rights related to services/applications/tools/data created by the User using the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data are owned by the User creating those services/applications/tools.

3.4.   The Users creating services/applications/tools/data using the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data shall mention that they rely on these elements and refer to the European Commission in their distribution, as well as indicate if changes were made to DestinE Data. For avoidance of doubt, ‘changes’ will include but will not be limited to aggregation, transformation, interpolation or integration with other data sources, which results in services/applications/tools/data that are distinct from the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data and must be clearly identified as such. The User shall not describe, present, or otherwise represent any services/applications/tools/data derived from or based on the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data as original DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data. The attribution must be displayed prominently and provided alongside, within, or co-located with the services/applications/tools/data in the form of the following wording: “This service/application/tool/data is created [based on data of the European Commission] and/or [using Destination Earth Platform] (but has been modified by [User’s name]).”  The User may be required to include additional attributions if a specific content depicts such a requirement.

3.5. The User accepts all responsibility and liability for the services/applications/tools/data created by the User using the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data.

ARTICLE 4: NON-LIABILITY

4.1. The European Commission shall accept no responsibility or liability regarding any services, data and information on the DestinE Platform.

4.2. DestinE Data are provided without any express or implied warranty from the European Commission as regards their quality, accuracy, completeness, availability, reliability, speed and suitability for any purpose. The European Commission may make changes to their content at any time and will notify the users of these changes on best effort basis.

4.3. By using the DestinE Platform, Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data, the user renounces any claim for damages against the European Union. The scope of this waiver encompasses any dispute, including contracts and torts claims, that might be filed in court, in arbitration or in any other form of dispute settlement.

ARTICLE 5: EXTERNAL WEBSITE DISCLAIMER AND DATA PROTECTION

5.1. The DestinE Platform website is an external website, which is not owned by the European Commission, and for which the European Commission assumes no responsibility.

5.2. When Users choose to use the above-mentioned external website, they are subject to the cookie, privacy, and legal policies of that external website. The European Commission can instruct the external website to display or include a link to the European Commission’s privacy notice, which shall be identified as such.

5.3. Compliance with applicable data protection and accessibility requirements of external websites is the explicit responsibility of the external website.

ARTICLE 6: USE OF THE EU EMBLEM BY THIRD PARTIES

6.1. The principles of use of the EU emblem by third parties have been set out in an administrative agreement with the Council of Europe. This agreement has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 08/09/2012 (2012/C 271/04). According to this agreement, any natural or legal person (“third-party user”) may use the EU emblem or any of its elements, as long as this use:

  1. does not create the impression or assumption that there is a connection between the third-party user and any of the institutions, bodies, offices, agencies and organs of the European Union or the Council of Europe where this connection does not exist;
  2. does not lead the public to believe that the user benefits from the support, sponsorship, approval, or consent of any of the institutions, bodies, offices, agencies and organs of the European Union or the Council of Europe where this is not the case;
  3. is not made in connection with any objective or activity which is incompatible with the aims and principles of the European Union or the Council of Europe or is otherwise unlawful.

6.2. If the use of the EU emblem complies with the above conditions, there is no need to ask for written permission.

6.3. Registration of the EU emblem, or a heraldic imitation thereof, as a trademark or as any other IP right is not acceptable.

ARTICLE 7: ENTIRE AGREEMENT

These Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between the User and the European Commission regarding the use of the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data.

ARTICLE 8: CHANGES TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The European Commission reserves the right to modify or update these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice. The User’s continued use of the DestinE Services for Users Granted Upgraded Access and DestinE Data shall be deemed acceptance of the modified or updated Terms and Conditions.

ARTICLE 9: ACKNOWLEDGMENT

By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the User acknowledges that they have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.