EUMEDGRID-Support kicks off at launch event

With the rapid advancement of technology world-wide, world-class researchers are calling for an increasing demand of computing power to address global challenges to bring real world benefits.

Through virtual research communities and advanced grid infrastructures, the implementation and co-ordination at a national (or larger) level opens up important opportunities to optimise the usage of existing, limited storage and computing resources, improve their accessibility and empower research groups from several domains. Over the last few years, the EUMEDGRID vision has facilitated improvements at technological level and fostered the know-how of networking and computing professionals across the Mediterranean. The resulting pilot grid infrastructure for research in the region was interoperable and compatible with the Enabling Grids for e-Science (EGEE), the world’s largest multi-disciplinary grid infrastructure connecting over 10,000 researchers world-wide, from fields as diverse as high energy physics and earth and life sciences.
EUMEDGRID-Support (2010-2012), kicking off on 1 January 2010, will hold its launch event 25-28 January 2010 in Cairo, Egypt. The event will set the foundation for the project, which builds on the successful outcomes of EUMEDGRID (2006-2008), and spotlights Europe and the Mediterranean and Middle-east regions through an open dialogue aimed at increasing stakeholder and community awareness on the fundamental importance of e-Infrastructures with the ultimate goal of ensuring long-term sustainability. To maximise outcomes, EUMEDGrid-Support adopts a two-fold approach: bottom-up approach - serving to raise awareness among researchers, students and technical personnel who can greatly benefit from using e-Infrastructures in their work; and top-down bringing into sharp relief the need for a policy framework developed with funding bodies highlighting the value-add and need for e-Infrastructures to empower researchers and advance the frontiers of scientific research.

“EUMEDGrid-Support is a strategic and timely project, which effectively responds to the pressing need for computing power and storage capacity provided by large computing systems or supercomputing centres and sophisticated tools. However, these advanced infrastructures are expensive to build and can only be justified by a critical mass of users. Through the creation of virtual, distributed environments, research institutions and universities, which are supported by appropriate policies, ensure access and resources to user groups from several domains. These resources thus empower researchers to co-operate with peers in different parts of the world in real time, optimising human resources and “brainware”, says Federico Ruggieri, INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Italy and co-ordinator of EUMEDGrid-Support.For more information on EUMEDGRID-Support and related initiatives visit: http://www.eumedgrid.eu/ or contact Federico Ruggieri, Project Director at [e-mail]