The EGEE project officially ended on the 31 March 2006
EGEE II started on 1 April 2006 and the new EGEE website can be found at:
http://www.eu-egee.org
EU e-infrastructure challenge - (key)Roles of EGEE
Kyriakos BaxevanidisAbstract
Recent advances in Europe in the area of Research Infrastructures (RI) based on successful project results in this area
(e.g. DataGrid, EuroGrid etc) create the expectation that technology is maturing in fast pace to support the emergence
of a new infrastructure paradigm according to which the shared use of computing and data resources across administrative
and technology domains will become a commodity service.
The idea is also such an infrastructure to be built on top of the existing high-speed networking infrastructure in a way
that a fully integrated communication and information processing service is provided to the user application communities
(.one stop shop. service in the use of the ICT-infrastructure).
A major objective of the Research Infrastructures part of the 6th Framework Programme for research of the EU (FP6: 2003-2006),is to create such an infrastructure for Research in Europe, else known as the e-infrastructure.
Further to the research effort, experience shows that the full exploitation of a new innovative technological paradigm
with such a broad scope and cross border relevance like the Grid-based e-Science concept can better (and in some cases only)
happen when the appropriate administrative and policy decision mechanisms (on the level of the resources shared use) are
put in place, in close pace with the technological advances.
Responding to this challenge, the MS and AS in Europe in close co-operation with the European Commission launched in 2003
an initiative on the policy level to discuss and formulate views on the above issues and to facilitate the creation of the
necessary administrative and policy decision mechanisms for the successful deployment of e-infrastructures in the extended
European Research Area for e-Science.
The recently launched EGEE (Enabling Grids for e-Science in Europe) FP6 initiative is spearheading the creation of a
resource sharing pan-European layer of the above e-infrastructure.
Biography
Mr. Kyriakos Baxevanidis is a scientific officer of the European Commission. His current activity is the co-ordination of the Grid related efforts of the Research Infrastructures EU-RTD Programme including the monitoring of big European Grid initiatives like the DataGrid (EDG) and EGEE projects. One of his most recent involvements is in the shaping, implementation and further evolution of the EU eInfrastructure concept .He previously served in the areas of Services Engineering, Communications Management and Security of IST and of previous EU-RTD programmes. Before joining the Commission, he worked for several years in Siemens in the field of telecommunication systems as an engineer and leader of a development group. He holds degrees from the Aristotle University of Greece and from Carnegie-Mellon University, US.