Amsterdam To Host New EGI Headquarters
Amsterdam cemented its position as a leading centre of IT and computation in Europe with the announcement in March that the city has been selected as the location of the European Grid Initiative (EGI) headquarters.
The decision was made at the last EGI Policy Board meeting on Monday 2 March 2009, and placed Amsterdam ahead of seven other European cities that also expressed their interest in hosting the EGI Organisation.
What is grid computing?
Grid computing is the application of many networked computers to a single problem at the same time – usually a scientific or technical problem that requires a great number of computer processing cycles or access to large amounts of data.
Grids offer a way to solve huge computing challenges, such as protein folding, financial modelling and climate/weather simulation. They enable information technology resources to be used optimally, and provide a means for offering information technology as a utility for commercial and non-commercial clients, with those clients paying only for what they use, as with electricity or water.
Science Park Amsterdam
"We are very honoured that the European grid community has chosen Amsterdam to host EGI.org", said Patrick Aerts, Director of the National Computer Facility (NCF), the Netherlands, after the announcement of the decision.
"We thank all EGI-Policy Board members, and especially our runners-up for the trust that they have placed in the Netherlands. This is of course a very positive result for the Science Park Amsterdam, The City of Amsterdam and NWO/NCF, which together represent the Netherlands Grid Initiative (NGI)."
The selection report noted that Amsterdam was the top location concerning international access, with Schiphol airport connected to almost all European airports. The city’s excellent networking was mentioned, and the fact that it was strongest overall on technical facilities and employment conditions.
Lodewijk Asscher, Amsterdam’s Alderman for Economic Affairs said the city was extremely proud of the Policy Board’s decision to locate at the Science Park, which is already home to a large cluster of organisations in the exact sciences and IT. “EGI.org is a perfect addition to this community,” he said. “Its presence will also make the area more attractive for commercial activities.”
National Grid Initiatives
The EGI Design Study project was launched in September 2007 with the support of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, and has been already endorsed by 39 National Grid Initiatives. The project will continue until the end of November 2009, the EGI Organisation will begin its functions in early 2010.
Within the EGI partnership, EGI.org and National Grid Initiatives (NGIs) will work together to operate and further develop a sustainable, long-term grid infrastructure, enabling optimal sharing of computing and data resources.
The main role of EGI.org will be to facilitate the interaction and collaboration between the different NGIs, and to provide a common managerial and operational framework for the pan-European grid infrastructure.
"The choice of the location of the EGI.org headquarters is a further and decisive step towards the implementation of a sustainable European grid infrastructure", said Gaspar Barreira, Chairman of the EGI Policy Board. "From now on we will be all mobilised for the real establishment of a new international research infrastructure in Europe, where a large number of countries will put together and operate the world’s largest grid computing facility."
