Deliverable template

3.2integrating new scientific communities

Before even integrating new scientific communities, it is important to support the groups already engaged in the project by providing good training, and reliable and highly-available services. Satisfied users give positive referrals to their colleagues and therefore generate new users via word-of-mouth publicity.

Reaching out to scientific communities requires understanding their structure and level of Information Technology awareness:

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  In some disciplines, groups are already working together using advanced computing. A group such as Earth Systems Modellers spans several countries and have existing applications suitable for grid use.
  
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  Some groups are already working using grid computing as users of a national or a regional grid service. For these groups, the goal is to merge national or regional grids with EGEE.
  
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  Individual researchers are important to attract as their involvement will contribute to grow the whole community using advanced computing for collaboration, modelling, analysis, data integration, etc. This improves the overall capability of EU researchers.
  

All three groups are important to involve but they require different treatments and have varying impact on our future.

3.2.1Integrating new disciplines

New discipline groups need to be spread across Europe and to be clearly different from High Energy Physics. It is helpful if they are representatives of relevant research communities, e.g. earth observation scientists collaborating on satellite data exploitation, economists working on a common model etc. It is necessary that they are already well-organised and using advanced computing otherwise they cannot be inducted quickly enough for EGEE's aggressive schedule. It is preferable that they be distributed across Europe reasonably evenly with a presence in each member country.

Within EGEE, this integration is foreseen through the following process:

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  NA4 identifies the communities already using advanced computing and keen to use EGEE infrastructure;
  
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  A scientific advisory panel (EGAAP, described later) assesses and chooses among the interested communities the ones which seem the most mature to deploy their applications on EGEE;
  
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  NA4 agrees with SA1 on the required resources and technical requirements and with NA3 on their training requirements;
  
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  NA4 collects the requirements expressed by the new disciplines and transfers them to the joint research activities (JRA1, JRA3, JRA4).
  

It is important to emphasize that EGEE is not a pool of free resources to be used by any new community. Low-levels of resources for new communities will be provided by the EGEE infrastructure, but these communities are expected to bring significant resources to the infrastructure as they move into a production mode. EGEE provides the glue to link together the resources, the structure, the assistance on the set-up and the opportunity to join a unique community collaborating on solving grand-challenge problems.

3.2.2Integrating regional and national grids

The regional growth is typically not based on new groups. It is the merger of national or regional grids with EGEE. A major goal is to see integration of national grids into a European grid just as the GEANT network integrates national research and educational networks. Each integrated national grid will bring a large set of disciplines, application communities, resources and active users.

As in industry, mergers are managerially, politically and technically difficult to achieve. It takes a long period from early negotiation and agreement to merge to real benefits from common platforms, shared grid operations support centres, and users that collaborate across the pan-European grid. It requires significant political and managerial investment from NA1, NA5 and Project Management Board, and intensive follow up from all activities: for example, JRA1 would need to achieve convergence with national plans, JRA3 has to agree convergence on security, SA1 has to agree Service Level Agreements and other "contracts" with its national partners, and NA3 has to integrate training for national and EGEE grids. This is worthwhile, but it requires strong and strategic leadership from the "boardroom" and real willingness to work with national programmes.

3.2.3Attracting individual researchers

This is initiated by well-targeted efforts from NA2. It is vital that they reach research leaders and innovators in chosen target communities who do not know about EGEE and do not know of the potential advantages grid computing can bring in their research activities. It is necessary to catch their attention and then whet their appetite for the advanced, distributed, and collaborative computing environment offered by grids. This must be done by going to them, e.g. at their conferences or institutes, and by talking their language. It may also be done by attractive and informative web dissemination and by publishing in their popular journals. This has to be followed through effectively and rapidly by NA3 & NA4.

3.3Accompanying users

A user or community already involved in EGEE is intrinsically more valuable than some possible other users or communities. The chance of developing them into committed users who depend on the continuation of EGEE is very much higher than developing a result by cold-calling. Hence it is imperative to develop a strong and effective system for progressing users and communities through their evolution from tyros to established experts. This means that for each stage, a well developed and implemented mechanism for supporting them and moving them to the next stage is set up.

The following sequence illustrates the needs at different stages of an individual user:

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  Stage 1: novice attracted by NA2
  
  1. 
     Retain interest by maintaining contact list and providing information, for instance newsletter and information about events;
     
  2. 
     Develop interest and skill by introductory courses made accessible by happening in a geographically suitable place not long after interest arose or contact was made. Ideally these courses will be (partially) tailored to particular groups;
     
  3. 
     Establish (at that course if possible) the user credentials and make them EGEE users and associate them with a Virtual Organisation if possible;
     
  4. 
     Establish and maintain communication with them, e.g. front line help, user community, future training, conferences, etc.
     
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  Stage 2: active new user
  
  1. 
     Provide easy access to relevant specific EGEE information: how to do things, operational information, stories about how others are making a success with EGEE, user group, web data, web-based tutorials, web documentation;
     
  2. 
     Regular pattern of EGEE training courses to augment skills, e.g. when there is need to understand and use web services, new EGEE platform, etc.
     
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  Stage 3: advanced user or application developer
  
  1. 
     Provide accurate up-to-date technical information;
     
  2. 
     Provide diagnostic failure/performance analysis developer aids;
     
  3. 
     Provide predictable service and operational behaviour;
     
  4. 
     Provide user groups and developer groups, developer and advanced user / developer courses, technology specific courses and workshops.
     
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  Stage 4: leader of a community of users or administrator of a Virtual Organisation
  
  1. 
     Provide accurate up-to-date information on how to set up and manage Virtual Organisations;
     
  2. 
     Examples of Virtual Organisation policy;
     
  3. 
     Contact with successful leaders in other disciplines or Virtual Organisations;
     
  4. 
     Tools to support Virtual Organisation administration;
     
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     Access to new users interested in this Virtual Organisation;
     
  6. 
     Support for users introduced by this leader / Virtual Organisation tailored to their requirements;
     
  7. 
     Courses/workshops on Virtual Organisation tools, Virtual Organisation practices, security strategies, etc.
     

The different project activities need to collaborate in order to link individuals into this sequence wherever their current experience warrants. As well, such sequences need to be elaborated for (i) communities and (ii) grid regions.