Amsterdam to host EGI.org
Amsterdam has been chosen to host EGI.org, the coordinating organization responsible for managing the European Grid Initiative (EGI).Amsterdam was selected as the host city at the last EGI policy board meeting in Catania on Monday 2 March 2009, ahead of seven other European cities that also expressed their interest in hosting the EGI Organization.
“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.”
"We are very honoured that the European grid community has chosen Amsterdam to host EGI.org”, said Patrick Aerts, Director of the National Compute 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), but it is above all a shared EGI achievement.”
“The decision on the EGI.org location is another major milestone for the establishment of the EGI”, said Ludek Matyska, the EGI_DS Project Director. “With this decision, the European grid community, represented by the EGI Policy Board, confirmed once again its commitment to the EGI model as the future for grid infrastructure in Europe.”
“This decision comes just after the approval of the EGI Blueprint in Prague, on the 20th of January 2009”, added Jürgen Knobloch, the EGI_DS Technical Director. “We can now proceed with the transition strategy from EGEE and other Grid infrastructures in Europe to EGI”.
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. Full operation of the organization will begin in 2010.
EGI.org, as the coordinating body, will be funded through membership fees paid by NGIs, with an expected contribution from the European Commission (EC).
More information:
www.eu-egi.eu
www.eu-egi.eu/blueprint.pdf
press@eu-egi.eu
The EGI Design Study (EGI_DS) project was launched in September 2007 with the support of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme. The project will continue until the end of November 2009. According to current plans, the EGI Organization will begin its functions in early 2010. The EGI_DS has nine principal partners: CESNET, CERN, CNRS, CSC, DFN, GRNET, LMU, INFN and STFC, and is already endorsed by 39 National Grid Initiatives.
Launch of Call for Proposals: THE LOCATION OF EGI.org
The EGI Design Study Policy Board invites National Grid Initiatives to place bids for the location of the new organization.
The EGI Design Study (EGI_DS) project aims at establishing a sustainable long-term grid infrastructure in Europe and at moving from the existing short term funded project structure to a sustainable service. The EGI_DS is financed by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme. It was launched in September 2007 and will continue until November 2009. It is planned that the EGI organization will be operational at the beginning of 2010. During the last months, EGI_DS has focused on writing the EGI Blueprint document, a proposal designed to determine how to establish a sustainable grid infrastructure. The next step for the project is to determine the best location for the EGI organization (EGI.org).
The launch of this Call for Proposals invites National Grid Initiatives (NGI) and NGI-approved organizations to place bids for the long-term accommodation of the EGI.org central office which will permanently host up to 50 people. The office must be located in an EU Member State or in an EU associated state, and be available by January 2010.
Furthermore, the bidder shall propose a legal form that will satisfy requirements as set out by the EGI_DS Policy Board. Given the international nature of the EGI.org, its central office should be easy to reach from most points in Europe and should also be able to provide facilities for meetings. Bidders are also asked to provide an overview of the applicable employment conditions, bearing in mind that staff will be recruited throughout Europe (EU Member States and also other European States). Additionally, EGI.org will have important cash flows within Europe, and bidders must therefore provide details regarding to the fiscal environment in which the EGI.org would operate.
“I am extremely pleased with the outcome of the recent EGI Policy Board. The unanimous decision to launch a call for proposals regarding the site of the EGI headquarters marks the first concrete step towards the implementation of EGI. In only a few weeks we will have an expression of interest in our hands from several European governments willing to host EGI. Thanks to this strong commitment, I am confident that we will be able to establish EGI well before the EGEE-III project finishes in May 2010. Together with the site we will select an EGI legal framework which will be based either on local national law or the new European Research Infrastructure legal framework, presently under discussion in Brussels.", says Guy Wormser (CNRS) who was in charge of the preparation of the Call for Proposals in the EGI_DS.
The Call for Proposals is open from the 1st of October 2008 until the 1st of December 2008. An announcement of short-listed candidates will be published on the 6th of February 2009. It is planned that the selected location for the EGI.org will be announced by the EGI_DS Policy Board on the 2nd of March 2009.
Read the EGI Call for Proposals in detail
Contact point for the Call of Proposals:
Gaspar Barreira, EGI Policy Board Chairman: pb-chair(at)eu-egi.eu
Ludek Matyska, EGI_DS Project Director: contact(at)eu-egi.eu
The EGI_DS has nine principal partners, CESNET, CERN, CNRS, CSC, DFN, GRNET, GUP, INFN and STFC, and is already endorsed by 38 National Grid Initiatives