The SEERA-EI comparative analysis of national programmes
Dimitra Kotsokali, SEERA-EI dissemination manager
The South East European Research Area for e-Infrastructures (SEERA-EI) compiled an in-depth comparative analysis of national programmes, and national and regional e-Infrastructures, to identify gaps in development and regional collaboration areas. The analysis is part of the SEERA-EI strategy to overcome obstacles and to identify policies related to e-Infrastructures, focusing on both short- and long-term actions that will provide a competitive scientific milieu for the region and Europe. The outputs will be used to formulate a collection of national best practices.
The document presents the framework of e-Infrastructures in terms of its main constituents (e.g. network, grid, HPC, middleware, cloud computing and green IT) and reviews pan-European (e.g. EGI, GÉANT, TERENA) and regional e-Infrastructure colla-borations (e.g. the SEE-GRID project series).
The technological priorities and potential areas for future regional collaboration identified were:
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the stability and sustainability of network operations, specifically dark fibres;
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the emerging computing para-digms, such as HPC, cloud computing and Green IT;
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transnational access and regional end-user applications;
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ESFRI integrations;
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softer actions focused on training and human capital enforcement.
The study also highlights the importance of initiatives such as EGI, PRACE, DEISA or GÉANT to encourage different users in the deployment of e-Infrastructure services. Participation of users, providers and developers in the development of e-Infrastructures is encouraged to obtain the most effective and fruitful services, which may trigger innovation.
The harmonisation of e-services and policies to improve collaboration and the creation of structured and long-term mechanisms to support e-Infrastructures have the potential to create superior economies of scale. These can provide the seamless e-Infrastructures required to produce high-quality research and training, to deploy technology transfer and best practices, to boost innovation, and to provide sustainability and global competitiveness to European e-Infrastructures.
To this respect, SEERA-EI has esta-blished liaisons with EGI, ESFRI, e-IRG, PRACE, WINS-ICT, e-InfraNet, and other initiatives, that have supported the sharing of the know-how in terms of policies, programmes and vision within the SEE region and beyond. By regular exchange of information with the main European actors in e-Infrastructure the region will be able to reduce the fragmentation and increase the coherence in the policies and strategies regarding e-Infrastructure programmes.
