The European Union is providing Eur52m funding to turn 12 grid technology research projects into commercially-available systems for use by industry.

The projects involve universities, researchers and companies across Europe - including several UK institutions - to create tools that will deliver access to the enormous processing power of a computing grid for organisations that would ordinarily be unable to afford to buy standalone systems with a similar capability.

Grid technology links together hundreds of individual computers into a network of systems that can be used as if they were a single device.

'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.'

Europe is not the only area providing funding for commercialising grid technology. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry is involved with a project at Mazda that is already at an advanced stage (see below).

The European Commission says grid technology is also being used in several industries, including design of pedestrian protection systems in car bonnets, better use of data in pharmaceutical products, and collaboration on aerospace sub-systems such as a landing system for a future unmanned cargo vehicle.

Most of the European funding is going to four major projects:

Simdat

This initiative is developing grid-based tools to enhance product development and design for the automotive, aerospace and pharmaceutical industries, and service provision for meteorology.

With Eur11m from the European Commission, Simdat will look at the use of grids for aiding collaboration across 'virtual' organisations made up of many companies in a manufacturing supply chain. It covers tasks such as distributed problem solving and knowledge management.

In the UK, defence systems company BAE Systems is involved in the four-year project, along with the Met Office, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM and the University of Southampton.

NextGrid

NextGrid focuses on the architecture of economically-viable grid systems. It will look to develop ways to streamline grid operations, from installation and maintenance of the infrastructure, to development of grid-based applications and the business models and processes that will result.

The project's goal is to create components of a next-generation grid that will form the basis for widespread use by organisations and individuals.

The four-year, three-phase initiative will address issues such as security, privacy and standards to encourage take-up by business and the public.

Several UK organisations are contributing, including the universities of Edinburgh, Southampton, and Queen's, Belfast, along with BT.

Akogrimo

Mobile technology is one of the areas where Europe has taken a leading position, and the Akogrimo project plans to combine this leadership with advances in grids.

The initiative will aim to develop an IPv6-based framework that allows mobile operators to use grid technology to provide new services and functions for businesses and citizens in an increasingly wireless world.

Three application areas have been selected so far to be the basis for validating the framework - elearning, healthcare, and crisis management.

For example, Akogrimo could be used as a platform for improving collaboration between emergency services and authorities handling a major disaster, or for co-ordinating efforts at large public events such sport or concerts.

With Eur7m funding for the project, the UK's involvement comes through the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils.

CoreGrid

Some Eur8.2m will go towards creating 'virtual centres of excellence' for grid research across numerous Europe an institutions.

The four-year project brings together 119 researchers and 165 PhD students from 42 organisations to cover six areas of grid software - knowledge and data management; programming models; system architecture; information and monitoring services; research management and scheduling; and problem-solving environments and tools.

Several UK universities will contribute to CoreGrid, including Imperial College, Cardiff, Cambridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Westminster.

Grid computing research in Japan

Mazda plans to be one of the first businesses to commercially use grid computing to run its corporate systems.

The car manufacturer is working with supplier NEC to test the system, so that it can consolidate IT resources and reduce systems downtime.

The trial is a part of the business grid computing project promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

By linking together servers across numerous locations Mazda plans to create a virtual high-performance computer that will allow the manufacturer to transfer workloads between different locations and reduce the impact of potential disasters, such as localised power failures.

Mazda is working with NEC to outline the requirements of the grid computing system and plans to introduce a test platform before the end of 2005.

The two companies also hope to develop grid middleware, which will be included in the full commercial system, should tests prove successful.

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