Project summary

COS4CLOUD: strengthening citizen science through open data and artificial intelligence

The COS4CLOUD project (Co-designed Citizen Observatories Services for the EOS-Cloud) was a research project funded by Horizon 2020 (Grant Agreement No. 863463), carried out from November 2019 to February 2023 and coordinated by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Spain. It brought together 15 European and international partners to develop new digital services for improving the collection, quality, interoperability, and sharing of citizen science data.

COS4CLOUD co-designed and tested 13 digital services with end users, using technologies including artificial intelligence, automated image recognition, data analysis, and open standards. Covering areas ranging from biodiversity to air and water quality monitoring, these services were designed to be reusable within the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

Pl@ntNet’s role

Pl@ntNet played a central role in the project by making its automated plant identification technologies available to other citizen science platforms and research initiatives.

One of the key outcomes was Pl@ntNet-API, enabling scientists, developers, and other citizen observatories to integrate Pl@ntNet’s identification engine into their own applications. From one or several photographs, the service provides the most likely species and can be adapted to specific regions or floras.

COS4CLOUD also helped improve access to Pl@ntNet observations for research, strengthen interoperability between citizen science platforms, and build verified image datasets for training and evaluating artificial intelligence models.

A virtuous circle between citizens, scientists, and AI

The project is based on the complementary roles of citizen observations, scientific expertise, and artificial intelligence. User contributions enrich datasets and help improve AI models, while automated tools make it easier to identify and validate new observations.

By following open science and FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), COS4CLOUD helped Pl@ntNet evolve beyond a plant identification application into a scientific infrastructure and reusable service, supporting other citizen science and biodiversity research initiatives.

Cos4Cloud News

COS4CLOUD: where can I find details about its achievements?


The COS4CLOUD project officially came to an end in February 2023, following three years of research carried out under the Horizon Europe programme. Although the research activities have now been completed, all project results remain publicly available. The official COS4CLOUD website brings together the main resources produced by the consortium, including project news, demonstrators, case studies, scientific publications, public deliverables, developed tools, and communication materials. All of these resources can be accessed HERE.

The project’s final results and overall outcomes are also available on the European Commission’s CORDIS platform, which presents the project’s objectives, partners, main achievements, and final reports. The dedicated COS4CLOUD CORDIS page is available HERE.

Key partners