Oracle and Challengers Discuss the Future of Grid
Challengers' first Business and Improvements of Life Foresight workshop brought together executives from some of the Europe's leading scientific organisations and technology companies to discuss and define the benefits and challenges associated with Grid computing. Oracle offered its expertise in Grid computing at the meeting, which will help define the funding priorities for the EU Seventh Framework Programme.
In May 2007, Oracle was invited to Barcelona to attend a Challengers workshop on Business and Improvement of Life Foresight. The European Commission recognises that Grid technologies can boost innovation and productivity in European industry, and that an increasing number of businesses are likely to start investing in Grid technology. It has therefore established Challengers, a Support Action which aims to understand the benefits and challenges associated with Grid technology and the shifting business and technical landscape around it.
Challengers gathers together experts in Grid technology to study the characteristics of Grid adoption, and to discuss how best to overcome some of the challenges presented by Grid computing. Support Actions like this enable the Commission to sustain the implementation of Framework Programmes and help prepare future ones.
The meeting attracted representatives from technology industry leaders including AtosOrigin, eBay, Microsoft, Nokia and The 451 Group. With its expertise in Grid computing solutions, Oracle was a crucial contributor to discussions about the benefits of Grid, the potential barriers to adoption, and the opportunities for widespread uptake over the next ten years. The group also brainstormed the services, products and technologies that businesses will require in the event of full Grid adoption.
Challengers will only pursue a valid, useful and thus influential Vision on Grid challenges if our endeavour has the support of industrial players," said the project's coordinator Prof. Theodora Varvarigou. "We are therefore delighted and honoured that our effort has met the acceptance and active participation of a pioneering company with the profile and reputation of Oracle. This encourages us to continue our systematic effort and makes us optimistic that the outcome of Challengers will become a useful 'map', in the hands of the research and business community, towards the realisation of the Grid Vision for the coming decade".
Grid enables users to process large amounts of data very quickly and effectively, which has led some to associate it with the kind of data-intensive scientific research projects in which it was pioneered. In reality, a database Grid can act as a powerful data processing platform for all types of distributed application, and Oracle believes that this is the reputation the technology needs to acquire in order for it to achieve widespread adoption. There are also lingering concerns about data security, IT infrastructure complexity, standardisation of technologies and terminologies and software license management that need to be addressed before Grid is widely accepted as a highly beneficial technology that can reduce IT costs, increase productivity, enable intensive data processing and speed up business processes.
"As a contributor to Challengers, Oracle welcomes the opportunity to help shape European research and development in this key area," said Monica Marinucci, EMEA programme director for Oracle in R&D. "We are committed to helping business, government and academia understand the many benefits of Grid computing, and to helping to create an environment in which Grid-based projects can flourish and be successful. We look forward to contributing to further workshops on Research Challenges and Visions".
The outcome of the Business and Improvement of Life workshop will help steer the upcoming EU FP7 calls, and will influence the priorities of EU funding.
