Taking a significant lead in technology innovation, the State of West Virginia has authorized funding through its Economic Development Authority to develop the first state-sponsored open public Internet Grid computing effort. Designated as the Global Grid Exchange, this economic development initiative will deliver a cost effective computation infrastructure to drive innovation in the commercial, government and academic sectors across the state and around the world. The Global Grid Exchange will utilize the power of the Internet to aggregate the idle or unused computer processing resources throughout the state. With access to such resources, the Global Grid Exchange will soon be the largest open public computing Grid in the world. "The Global Grid Exchange is an excellent example of the type of economic development program we need to move West Virginia forward," said West Virginia governor Bob Wise. "The response to this effort from around the state has been incredible, resulting in an amazing commitment of donated computing resources -- from PCs to mainframes -- that will help power the Global Grid Exchange." "This is an innovation that will make our state a leader in a very promising technology area. Under the direction of Jim Estep, president and CEO of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation, the Global Grid Exchange will be a powerful tool for advancing our work in fields ranging from biometrics to cancer research," said Congressman Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va. "It's a forward-thinking investment and we are grateful to Governor Wise for his support in making part of the funding possible." "Our partnership with the state in building the Global Grid Exchange helps to accelerate the Foundation's vision of a vibrant statewide and regional high-tech business environment based upon knowledge, ideas and technological innovation," said James L. Estep, president and CEO of the WVHTC Foundation. "Though our initial focus will be in supporting economic development initiatives within the State of West Virginia, soon organizations from around the world will have easy access to this unique resource directly from their desktops." Implementation of the Global Grid Exchange has already begun. Users will be able to access the power of this Grid effort beginning in fall 2004.