Program 1: Platforms
The last decade has seen a dramatic shift from
single machine installations to highly specialised distributed, networked
configurations. Grid computing is one of the modern computing platforms that has
the potential to be a "disruptive" technology and may substantially alter the
competitive landscape. There is a common belief that grid computing represents a
"paradigm shift" that will provide the next big boost in corporate productivity
since the inception of the Internet and World Wide Web.
Grid Computing is an emerging technology that enables large-scale resource/data
sharing, and coordinated problem solving within distributed, often loosely
coordinated groups, sometimes termed "virtual organisations". By providing
scalable, secure, and high-performance mechanisms for discovering and
negotiating access to remote resources, Grid technologies promise to make it
possible for scientific collaborations to share resources on an unprecedented
scale, and for geographically distributed groups to work together in ways that
were previously impossible. Similar technologies are being adopted within
industry, where they serve as important building blocks for emerging service
provider infrastructures. Grid computing is an approach to distributed computing
that spans not only locations but also organisations, machine architectures and
software boundaries to provide unlimited power, collaboration and information
access to everyone connected to a Grid.
Even though the advantages of Grid technology for classes of applications has
been acknowledged, research into a variety of disciplines is needed to broaden
the applicability and scope of the current body of knowledge. This would include
not only multiple domains of computer science (networking, middleware,
programming, algorithms) but also application disciplines themselves, such as
areas like sociology and economics.
Program Coordinator:
Dr. Bing Bing Zhou from the University of
Sydney, is working on Grid computing, parallel and distributed computing, and
Bioinformatics.
