INDUSTRY

Twelve of Europe's smaller countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop an interoperable scientific grid infrastructure together. Dubbed SIRENE (Infrastructure and REsources iN Europe), the agreement was signed on 22 January in Brussels by representatives from the national grids of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The aim is to encourage and simplify scientific collaboration and allow smaller European countries to lend more weight to the European scientific landscape. Signatories of the MoU agreed to pool the array of resources needed to build a joint and cost-efficient e-infrastructure, serving the interest of science. Resources to be shared may include: expertise and know-how; computers, storage facilities and instruments such as telescopes and satellites; databases, archives and libraries; networking infrastructures; middleware such as services, agents and portals; and software and standards. SIRENE's first project will involve research into an automated system to exchange computing power and storage capacity and new user-friendly access to grids. For more information, please visit: its Web site.