Implementation outline

AimEstablish what we need the Navigator to do before determining the information and technical structures required to support it.

• Define the initial target audiences and the substantially different user journeys the Navigator should support.
• Compile a representative set of existing user questions and access enquiries.
• Use these to develop and test user personas and journeys, with validation through the Node Management Expert Group and other relevant stakeholders.
• Define how the Navigator should establish relevant user context during an interaction, including the distinction between anonymous discovery/exploration and authenticated/returning-user journeys using LS-AAI and available account information.
• Agree what "good enough" Navigator performance means for the main use cases and develop initial criteria against which recommendations can later be validated.

AimTreat Nodes not simply as data providers, but as requirements sources, data owners, validators, pilot environments and eventual adopters of the Navigator.

• Develop a simple and consistent project narrative for Nodes: added value, expected contribution and likely implications for Nodes and facilities.
• Prepare basic supporting material: project webpage, short presentation and FAQs/background information.
• Map Nodes according to their likely relevance for different aspects of development; initiate structured 1:1 discussions with all Node leadership.
• Use these discussions to identify existing practices, concerns, information structures and potential early pilot cases.
• Develop realistic incentives for participation and continued data maintenance, with particular emphasis on good UX, use of the Navigator on Nodes' own websites, and low-burden processes.
• Use the Node Management Expert Group and other appropriate groups for structured co-design and validation throughout development.

AimDefine the minimum structured information required for reliable service discovery and guidance, while ensuring that the resulting system can realistically be maintained across a distributed infrastructure.

AimMove from the data model to a sufficiently rich, maintainable body of knowledge from which the Navigator can generate useful and evidence-based guidance.

• Node/service knowledge: structured information on Euro-BioImaging technologies, expertise, services, access conditions and providers.
• Evidence and contextual knowledge: existing user projects, use cases/user stories, publications, Euro-BioImaging policy documents, guidance and best-practice material needed to justify useful recommendations.
• Website knowledge: distinguish information that needs to become authoritative structured data from content that can remain unstructured but must be reliably retrievable with provenance — explore lightweight metadata and automated ingestion/indexing through the WordPress REST API, with appropriate validation and update mechanisms.
• Training knowledge: assess required changes to Microscopy.DB structures, how information can feed into the wider knowledge environment, and Euro-BioImaging's future role in the wider Microscopy.DB sustainability conversation, including a new member on its steering group.
• Funding knowledge: determine the appropriate scope, source and update model for funding information relevant to user guidance.
• Knowledge graph of the image-data journey: define how imaging technology, produced data, analysis and data-management capabilities connect into viable workflows, connect relevant resources, and identify places for intervention with users in the access journey.
• Across these sources, define a source hierarchy determining which information the Navigator should treat as authoritative and how conflicting or outdated information is handled.

AimBuild validation into development rather than treating it as a final-stage check.

• Define human-in-the-loop processes for checking recommendations and correcting underlying information.
• Develop validation criteria linked to the priority use cases and "good enough" performance defined under item 1.
• Test outputs with domain experts and Node staff.
• Recruit less imaging-experienced/"naïve" users to test whether the Navigator genuinely lowers entry barriers.
• Where possible, follow real user projects through the journey from initial question to service selection/access and downstream data needs.
• Ensure findings feed back into personas, data requirements, knowledge sources and system behaviour.

AimEnsure that the Navigator can become part of Euro-BioImaging's distributed service environment rather than remaining a standalone central tool.

• Node-facing Navigator integration: approaches for embedding or linking the Navigator within Node websites and national access environments.
• Facility-management integration: map systems currently used across facilities and assess realistic opportunities for interoperability and information exchange.
• Node operation and training: develop guidance, training and an adoption model enabling Node staff to use, understand and maintain their part of the system.

AimUse AI4Access to improve navigation across Euro-BioImaging access opportunities without creating unnecessary technical dependencies between projects.

• Map the actual access processes of the new INFRA-SERV projects once these are operational.
• Determine what information the Navigator needs to guide users towards appropriate funding/access opportunities.
• Distinguish between requirements for information flow and cases where genuine technical integration would provide additional value.
• Develop and test selected pilot connections later in the project once both sides have sufficiently mature processes.

AimEnsure that the Navigator can be used operationally by Euro-BioImaging with appropriate safeguards, transparency and staff understanding.

• Clarify application of the EU AI Act and other relevant regulatory requirements.
• Develop practical Euro-BioImaging policies for AI-supported access provision, including human oversight and responsibility for recommendations.
• Define data-safety, privacy and provenance requirements.
• Review implications for the Euro-BioImaging Access Policy and related operational documentation.
• Develop appropriate AI literacy/training for Hub staff and, subsequently, Node staff.