INDUSTRY

The Open Grid Forum (OGF) today announced its worldwide OGF Affiliate Program and the first five organizations participating in the program including: Grid Consortium Japan, Grid Forum-Netherlands, Grid Forum-Korea, The Israeli Association of Grid Technologies (IGT), and Grid Forum-Singapore. OGF Affiliates are independent organizations with a legal charter and membership that focuses on grid issues and developments important to their local communities. OGF Affiliates recognize the value of both local and global outreach, education and active participation in shaping the best practices and global standards that enable grid adoption. They are critical contributors to OGF -- serving the interests of a segment of the global grid community consistent with the mission and principles of OGF. The OGF Affiliate program provides an important 2-way communication channel for feedback and alignment on global standardization issues. It enables consortia from around the world to experience the benefits of aligning with OGF's global mission of accelerating grid adoption. "OGF is an organization that must align globally but also communicate and collaborate locally" said Mark Linesch, OGF president. "We are pleased to be working with these great organizations to create a stronger and more vibrant worldwide effort for grid adoption." Comments by the new affiliate organizations express the importance of the program to the global grid community: "The Grid Consortium Japan was established to foster the development of Grid technology and exchange of information in Japan. The consortium consists of researchers from corporate bodies, universities and national institutes who support our aims." said Satoshi Sekiguchi, chairman, Grid Consortium Japan. "On behalf of Grid Consortium Japan, I warmly welcome the newly announced OGF Affiliate Program and its global aim of accelerating grid adoption. Our consortium joins the program to promote research and development of Grid technology and adoption by industries in Japan." "It is important that the link to the local communities is made, because this is where the grid will have to convince the users and the market" said Cees de Laat, chair of Gridforum.nl, "The demand is there but the learning curve is still steep. We think stronger ties between OGF and Gridforum Netherlands will help us in further bridging the gap between our members and the international community -- as it is crucial that we get the global OGF experts to interact with us in local events and master classes. Only through that can we further spread the importance of the global standardization work and make Grid a working success." Professor Lawrence Wong, Chairman, Singapore Grid Forum stated, "The Grid community in Singapore has been active since 2001, initially through the BioMedical Grid (BMG), and then through the National Grid Initiative in 2002. Activities under this initiative took place through various working groups, virtual grid communities, and special interest groups. In October 2006, we have re-organized and re-structured ourselves into the Singapore Grid Forum, in preparation to collaborate with the larger Grid community, especially the Open Grid Forum. We are therefore delighted to be affiliated with the OGF." "Grid Forum Korea (GFK), with KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information), has been working closely with OGF since 2002, promoting and developing Grid technology in the Korean Grid community" said Dr. Il-Sun Hwang, director of High Performance Computing Network Division, KISTI. "The Korean Grid community, reorganized and renamed as OGF-KR, is very pleased to be part of the OGF Affiliate Program and we are committed to continuing our close collaboration with OGF according to the mission and principles of this program." Avner Algom, IGT CEO stated, "The IGT is always looking for opportunities to expand its members ability to share knowledge and experience with other Grid related organizations. Today, the industry needs more standards and tools that will enable it to benefit from the economical advantages of the Grid concept. We are happy to be an affiliate of the OGF, and to contribute to the research and development of better Grid standards and tools that will serve the industry needs." Additional information about the OGF Affiliate program can be obtained by contacting Bernd Kosch, Regional VP EMEA, bernd.kosch@fujitsu-siemens.com or Toshihiro Suzuki, Regional VP Asia-Pacific including Japan, toshihiro.suzuki@oracle.com.