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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / JULY 14, 2003; VOL. 2 NO. 28
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Special Features:
£2M EURO AID FOR GRID
SUPERCOMPUTER
Larry Neild has reported in The Daily Post that Liverpool reserchers will
soon
be given £2m in European funding to help develop advanced Grid computing
capability.
The Objective One grant is being made to the Advanced Internet and Emergent
Systems Institute (AIMES) at the University of Liverpool.
The move will create up to 175 jobs, mostly based at a new science park
being
developed alongside the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The new system will help businesses capitalise on cutting-edge research
into
so-called 'grid' technology.
This will be done by using technology so that a computers can 'borrow'
spare
capacity from other computers enabling big documents to be quickly handled and
accessed without crashing systems.
The institute will help companies harness spare computer processing power
and
tap into a virtual supercomputer through the internet.
It will also help them develop new business models, which could have the
same
impact as e-commerce.
More than 40 companies on Merseyside alone are expected to be using
software
created through the project by 2007.
The government's ICT Minister Stephen Timms, announcing the Objective One
grant, last night told the Daily Post: "This project will provide an important
boost for the Merseyside economy -- more than 125 jobs could be created in
this first development phase alone. The internet is revolutionising the way
companies everywhere operate. We must grasp this opportunity to place
businesses on Merseyside at the cutting edge.
"The regeneration of this region is gathering pace. We must look to this
and
other innovative projects to ensure that the momentum is carried forward in
the future."
Hundreds of Merseyside's top companies will be invited for talks with the
institute about applying the technology over the next 18 months.
The institute believes that 125 jobs in grid software development and new
grid-based businesses will be created as a result, along with work for 50
support staff.
A new purpose-built research centre for the AIMES project will be ready in
2004, bringing together 70 staff from development teams working on
infrastructure, operating software, applications and new business systems.
The grid project will cost £16m over the next four years, including
contributions from the Northwest Development Agency (£3.6m) and a further £9m
from research sponsors and private industry.
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