The user communities will have representation and support mechanisms in the EGI User Forum (UF). The UF will organize an annual general meeting of all user communities, favouring information exchanges at all levels.

Services supporting the EGI users are distributed among NGIs, which cover the national needs, and Specialised Support Centres (SSCs) – entities typically organised to ensure the EGI e-Infrastructure corresponds to the needs of the large international scientific disciplines and can efficiently support their users. SSCs are by definition entities that are governed by the user communities and not by EGI. NGIs may decide to collectively organise parts or all of their user handling in SSCs. Initially, EGI.eu should take a coordination role through its User Community Services (UCS) Unit, led by the User Coordination Officer.

User communities are represented in the User Forum Steering Committee (UFSC) through the respective SSC or – if there is no SSC - through their bigger international grid based projects. The chairperson of the UFSC is an ex officio member of the EGI Council. The UFSC advises both the Council and the EGI.eu Director on all matters regarding the involvement of the users of the EGI e-Infrastructure.

The capability to serve new user communities has proven very important for the continuous growth of the EGEE infrastructure. Each new user community brings additional requirements for e-Infrastructures. It is expected that in the future additional EC and national funding will continue to be available to support the new user communities in expanding/adapting the functionalities of the services made available by EGI, possibly in collaboration with the Middleware Consortia.