ACADEMIA

The Commission is reinforcing its efforts to expand powerful 'grid' networked computing technology from their current use in research labs into wider industry. To achieve this, a 52 million euro package of twelve EU-funded research projects has been launched. 'Grid' computing, also dubbed 'tomorrow's internet', aims to open up the storage and transaction power of computers in the same way as the internet opened up content by connecting computers into 'metacomputers'. It is a powerful tool linking data, computers, sensors and other resources into a single virtual laboratory for resource sharing on a very large scale. At the moment, however, this tool is only available to big laboratories and corporations, such as the US National Science Foundation and NASA. By enabling industry to benefit from 'grid' computing, the Commission hopes to boost business competitiveness and create new markets and services. "These projects will accelerate Europe’s drive to turn its substantial Grid research investment into tangible economic benefits," said Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Olli Rehn. “Greater use of Grid tools is key for mobilising Europe’s scientific and technological capital to deliver greater competitiveness and better products.” The projects are funded through the EU's IST (Information Society Technologies) programme, a part of the 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6). They will focus on developing technologies and interoperability standards as well as real-world applications.