This Town Hall Meeting aims to give a future outlook of what new directions in scientific research could be possible if online data sets, tools, and research infrastructures really are fully integrated on a global scale across scientific discipline, sectoral and national boundaries.

We look up to the sky: what spectacular scientific results can we foresee? What would be needed to achieve that. But also down to earth: what are current barriers or challenges? how can we overcome those? What does this require from all of us and our current way of thinking about integrating data and science? How can we boldly go where no scientist has gone before?

This Town Hall Meeting follows up on the session ESSI 2.6 where various approaches demonstrate successful integration on the level of datasets and/or research infrastructures in support of scientific research within single disciplines, national/continental boundaries or the same sector.

The Town Hall has the objective to go one step further on the path to full integration of all these initiatives not just across the Earth and environmental sciences but also include the social sciences and humanities to help make transdisciplinary science a reality. Although this may seem a small step in this day and age of great online, technological possibilities, early attempts hint that it will still be a giant leap to fully achieve this integration.