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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / SEPTEMBER 1, 2003; VOL. 2 NO. 35
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Special Features:
LETTER FROM GRIDtoday's
EDITOR-AT-LARGE JOHN HURLEY
Recent advances in hardware, middleware and networking are largely
responsible
for the ongoing interest in Grid computing. Unquestionably, awareness of and
interest in Grid Computing has grown spectacularly over the last few years as
the relevant technologies continue to evolve. The use of Grid Computing in
applications defined by industry leaders such as IBM, Platform Computing, SGI
and Sun was generally expected. What has been somewhat surprising is the
embracing of Grid-based technologies for business applications in fields such
as finance, insurance and medicine. This fascinating development, however,
becomes more understandable when consideration is given to the fact that
applications in these fields generally require seamless access to
heterogeneous computing resources for applications involving very large data
sets -- a staple of the Grid computing paradigm.
In the June 30, 2003 Vol. 2, No. 26 issue of GRIDtoday, we introduced the a
new interdisciplinary collaboratory HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Scienes, and
Technology Collaboratory) whose goal was to ensure that a meaningful balance
exists between scientific discoveries and the impact of those breakthroughs,
when implemented, upon individuals and society. It is clear that technological
advancements can powerfully enhance society's ability to evolve and improve.
Scientific discovery coupled with prudent deliberation is most likely to lead
to performance of important tasks more efficiently and quickly. This has been
evidenced through the major breakthroughs that have taken place with the
Globus Toolkit, and how it has evolved to version GT3. However, at least four
very important challenges must be met as we look at technologies like Grid
Computing, including:
- How shall we bring diverse segments of the Grid community to the table and
unite them in a common direction?
- How shall we draw researchers and scholars in non-traditional computing
disciplines such as the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences into fruitful
liaisons with Grid Technologists?
- What will be the impact of Grid technologies and their implementation on
individuals and society?
- Can we develop a consensus among computer science programs regarding how
Grid computing will be adopted into the traditional CS curricula?
These topics will constitute the primary subjects of discussion in
interviews
with key practitioners in the field, in the upcoming issues of GRIDtoday.
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