SEE-GRID, SEE-GRID-II ve SEE-GRID-SCI

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SEE-GRID, SEE-GRID-II ve SEE-GRID-SCI

South Eastern European Grid-enabled elnfrastructure Development (2004-2006)

SEE-GRID aims to provide specific support actions to assist the participation of the SE European  states  to  the  pan-European  and  worldwide  Grid  initiatives  by  establishing  a  seamless  and  interoperable  pilot-Grid  infrastructure  that  will  expand  and  support  the  European  Research  Area  (ERA) in the region.  The SEE-GRID vision is to pave the way towards the provision of an independent-of-geographic- location,  round-the-clock,  common  market  of  computing  resources  to  the  distributed  research  communities in the region. The interconnection of the regional infrastructure to the pan-European  and worldwide Grid initiatives will translate into benefits for the smaller, less-resourced sites in SE  Europe to access computing power that would otherwise be unaffordable. In this perspective, the  proposed initiative will ease the digital divide and release the scientific & productive talents of the  region and will allow equal participation of the targeted countries in pan-European Grid Efforts in  the immediate future.  

Program Objectives: 

  • Create a human network in the area of Grids, eScience and eInfrastructures in SE Europe.

  • Integrate incubating and existing National Grid infrastructures in all SEE-GRID countries.

  • Capture eScience user requirements for Grid middleware and services in the region.

  • Support feasibility studies and provide roadmaps and cookbooks for the rapid integration of the SEE Grid area to the ERA.

  • Build upon and exploit the infrastructure provided by the Gigabit Pan-European Research & Education  Network  (GEANT)  and  the  South-East  European  Research  and  Education Networking (SEEREN) initiative in the region.

  • Migrate and test Grid middleware components and APIs developed by pan-European (e.g. EGEE,  etc)  and  national  (e.g.  Hungarian  ClusterGrid,  etc)  Grid  efforts  in  the  regional infrastructure.

  • Deploy (adapt if necessary) and test Grid applications developed by EGEE (Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid, Biomedical Grids) in the regional infrastructure. Demonstrate one more Grid application of regional interest (e.g. earthquake prediction, meteorology/climate).

  • Integrate available pilot Resource Centers of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro  and  Turkey  into  the  EGEE-compatible  infrastructure. Expand the operations and support center of the EGEE SE Europe Federation to cater for the operations in the above countries.

  • Promote  awareness  in  the  region  regarding  Grid  developments  through  dissemination conferences, training material and demonstrations for hands-on experience, in coordination with EGEE, which will promote the project results to the private and public sector, ultimately reaching the general public.

  • Ease the digital divide and bring SEE Grid communities closer to the rest of the continent.

  • Promote regional and international collaboration in SEE and with neighbouring countries.

  • Establish  a  dialogue  at  the  level  of  policy  developments  for  research  and  education networking and provide input to the agenda of national governments and funding bodies.

SEE-GRID Project is ended in May, 2006.

South Eastern European Grid-enabled elnfrastructure Development-2 (2006-2008)

SEE-GRID-2 aims to further advance and integrate the existing SEE Grid infrastructure and services, capitalize on the existing SEE-GRID human network to further strengthen scientific collaboration and cooperation among   participating   SEE   communities,   and   ultimately   achieve   sustainability   for   regional and national eInfrastructures that will endure beyond the project’s lifetime. 

The sustainability of the SEE eInfrastructure is the highest priority of SEE-GRID-2 and will be  primarily  pursued  by  achieving  involvement  and  cooperation  at  the  national   government  and  research/academic level in every SEE country. The sustainability efforts will be supported by the framework of a National Grid Initiative, through the maturing of grid organizational structures  and provision of reliable services, including the establishment and operation of Grid Operation  Centers   and   accredited   National/Regional   Grid   Certification   Authorities.   Furthermore, dissemination conferences and PR events will be utilized to raise awareness at all society levels and attract national & regional political and financial support for materializing the eInfrastructure vision.

In terms of available Grid resources, SEE-GRID-2 will pursue the expansion of the current SEE  grid infrastructure to new countries in the region as well as by proliferation of the participating  Resource Centers in each SEE country in order to  increase the available regional resources  (e.g. processing power, storage) thus boosting the performance  of the regional infrastructure;  furthermore, this will positively impact the  diversity and  distribution  of  participating  teams per  country thus strengthening cooperation and collaboration at national level. The actual usage of the Grid infrastructure will be stimulated by the support of multi-disciplinary grids, involving a range of research and academic institutes and scientific communities in all SEE countries, with emphasis on the deployment and support of a range of Grid applications in order to engage as many user communities as possible and increase the utilization of the available resources.

SEE-GRID-2 will also pursue the strengthening of the human network through extensive national  and   regional-level   training   in   order   to   develop   both   the   necessary   Grid   user-interface  familiarization and computing-resources sharing culture among the scientific communities -paving  the way for adoption of this policy by the public at large-, as well as hands-on experienced Grid  administrators that will spread their accumulated know-how among their countries’ National Grid  Initiatives resource centers.

Overall and in the long-term, SEE-GRID-2 aspires to contribute to the regional cooperation and  stability,   in   order   to   demonstrate   the   importance   of   collaborative   efforts   in   science   and  technology  areas like eInfrastructures, and  help  add  one  more element in the  continuing  EU  efforts to ease the SEE digital divide and aid the integration of the region with the rest of the  continent.

Project Objectives:

• Securing Sustainable Development and Operation;

• Upgrading the SEE Grid infrastructure; and

• Strengthening the regional and national Human Network.

SEE-GRID-II Project is ended in April, 2008.

SEE-GRID eInfrastructure for Regional eScience (2008-2010)

eInfrastructure in Europe has reached a mature state where the GÉANT network forms a communications backbone on top of which a distributed computing infrastructure – the Grid – provides processing and storage services for eScience research. The South-East European eInfrastructure initiatives are committed to ensuring equal participation of the less-resourced countries of the region in European trends. SEEREN initiative has established a regional network and its GÉANT connection and the SEE-GRID initiative the regional Grid. SEE-GRID-SCI will leverage the SEE eInfrastructure to enable new scientific collaborations among user communities.

SEE-GRID-SCI will stimulate widespread eInfrastructure uptake by new user groups extending over the region, fostering collaboration and providing advanced capabilities to more researchers, with an emphasis on strategic groups in seismology, meteorology and environmental protection. The initiative thus aims to have a catalytic and structuring effect on target user communities that currently do not directly benefit from the available eInfrastructures. In parallel, it will enlarge the regional eInfrastructure to cater for demands of the communities by increasing the computing and storage resources and involving new partner countries in the region. Finally, SEE-GRID-SCI will help mature and stabilise the National Grid Initiatives in the region, allowing them to join the new era of longer-term sustainable Grid infrastructure in Europe. In this context, SEE-GRID-SCI will aim to attract local political support for materializing the eInfrastructure vision.

In longer term, SEE-GRID-SCI aspires to contribute to the stabilisation and development of South-East Europe, by easing the digital divide and stimulating eInfrastructure development and adoption by new user communities, thus enabling collaborative high-quality research across target scientific fields.

Project Objectives:

  • Engaging international user communities and providing application-specific service extensions.

  • Providing infrastructure for new communities.

  • Consolidating actions towards long-term sustainability and European Grid Initiative inclusion.

  • Strengthening the regional and national human network.

SEE-GRID-SCI Project is ended in April, 2010.