INDUSTRY

On Wednesday 1 September, a new communications project, e-ScienceTalk, was launched. e-ScienceTalk will build on the impressive achievements of the GridTalk project to bring the success stories of Europe’s e-Infrastructure to policy makers in government and business, to the scientific community and to the general public.

Over the last 10 years, the European Commission and governments have invested substantial funds in scientific grid computing. Scientists have access to state-of-the-art computational and data resources located around the world, putting European research into a leading position to address the greatest challenges facing us today, such as climate change, pandemics and sustainable energy.

Catherine Gater, e-ScienceTalk Project Coordinator says, “The European Grid Infrastructure has been up and running since May this year, taking grid computing into new and exciting areas. In future, boundaries will blur between grids, clouds, supercomputing networks and volunteer grids. A clear, consistent source of information aimed at non-experts is now more important than ever, and as a communications project that crosses national boundaries, e-ScienceTalk is uniquely placed to help.”

e-ScienceTalk will produce a series of reports aimed at policy makers to disseminate key policy issues underpinning grid and e-Infrastructure development in Europe. The GridCafé website is a definitive source of information about what grid computing is and what it should be and will continue to explore new developments in distributed computing. The GridCast blog and the GridGuide, a virtual world view of the sights and sites of grid computing, will also cover new topics and explore novel web technologies - as well as integrating closely with GridPP’s Real Time Monitor to combine live views of grid activity with the human aspects of computing.

e-ScienceTalk brings together several expert partners from the world of e-Infrastructures: EGI.eu who coordinate the pan-European grid infrastructure, Queen Mary University of London in the UK, CERN in Switzerland, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine in London and APO, a web design company based in France.

Sarah Pearce, former Project Manager of GridTalk and Chair of the e-ScienceTalk PMB said: “The GridTalk project was very successful in bringing stories about the world of grid to its audiences and has recently been given a very positive review by the EC. I am very pleased that GridTalk’s good work will continue through the e-ScienceTalk project and I am looking forward to seeing the exciting new developments in store.”

As well working with projects across Europe, e-ScienceTalk will co-ordinate activities with international partners, both in areas with well-established grid infrastructures such as the US, and also in regions with burgeoning e-Infrastructures, such as Latin America, South Africa and Asia. International Science Grid This Week, which is co-funded by Open Science Grid in the US, will continue to bring weekly news and views from the e-Science communities to its growing readership.