European Grid Initiative

The European Grid Initiative aims to establish a sustainable grid infrastructure in Europe. Driven by the needs and requirements of the research community, it is expected to enable the next leap in research infrastructures, thereby supporting collaborative scientific discoveries in the European Research Area (ERA). The main foundations of EGI are the National Grid Initiatives (NGI), which operate the grid infrastructures in each country. EGI will link existing NGIs and will support the setup and initiation of new NGIs. The EGI Organization starts its operations in 2010.

EGI Design Study

The EGI Design Study (EGI_DS) project was launched in September 2007 and will continue until the end of November 2009. The project is funded by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme and has nine project partners. The goal of the EGI Design Study is to evaluate use cases for the applicability of a coordinated effort, to identify processes and mechanisms for establishing EGI, to define the structure of a corresponding body, and ultimately to initiate the construction of the EGI organization.

EGI_DS Project partners:

CESNET z.s.p.o., Czech RepubliCERN, European Organization for Nuclear ResearchCNRS, Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCSC - the Finnish IT center for Science, FinlandDFN, Deutsche Forschungsnetz Verein zur Förderung eines Deutschen Forschungsnetzes, GermanyGRNET, Greek Research and Technology Network S.A., GreeceGUP, Institut für Graphische und Parallele Datenverarbeitung Joh. Kepler Universität Linz, AustriaINFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, ItalySTFC, Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK

Visions and Objectives of the EGI

The objectives of the future EGI are:

• Ensure the long-term sustainability of the European e-infrastructure

• Coordinate the integration and interaction between National Grid Infrastructures

• Operate the European level of the production grid infrastructure for a wide range of scientific disciplines to link National Grid Infrastructures

• Provide global services and support that complement and/or coordinate national services (Authentication, VO-support, security, etc)• Coordinate middleware development and standardisation to enhance the infrastructure by soliciting targeted developments from leading EU and National Grid middleware development projects

• Advise National and European Funding Agencies in establishing their programmes for future software developments based on agreed user needs and development standards

• Integrate, test, validate and package software from leading grid middleware development projects and make it widely available

• Provide documentation and training material for the middleware and operations. (NGIs may wish to make the material available in turn in their local language)

• Take into account developments made by national e-science projects which were aimed at supporting diverse communities

• Link the European infrastructure with similar infrastructures elsewhere

• Promote grid interface standards based on practical experience gained from grid operations and middleware integration activities, in consultation with relevant standards organizations

• Collaborate closely with industry as technology and service providers, as well as grid users, to promote the rapid and successful uptake of grid technology by European Industry

EGI Knowledge Base

The EGI Knowledge Base is set up to provide a “Web 2.0” environment for the European National Grid Initiatives and the EGI Design Study team. Its content reflects the work done by the EGI_DS team, from the collection and study of e Infrastructure-related requirements through use cases, to the increasingly detailed planning of EGI functional implementation models, to the legal status of the NGIs and related options for the future European grid infrastructure.

External links

* [http://knowledge.eu-egi.eu Official web site]