A GRID infrastructure to promote cooperation across the Mediterranean The EUMEDGRID Project

1. A GRID infrastructure to promote cooperation across the MediterraneanThe EUMEDGRID Project Roberto Barbera – Univ. of Catania and INFN (EUMEDGRID Technical Manager) EGEE User Forum Manchester 9-11 May 2007 www.eumedgrid.eu

2. Outline • General information • Objectives & Strategies • Main Achievements & Applications • Perspectives & Conclusions EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

3. Generalities • EUMEDGRID is a Specific Support Action (SSA) funded under the EU VI Framework Programme. • The project started the 1st of January 2006. • 24 months duration. • 14 partners from EU and Non-Member States. • More information on the Project web site: www.eumedgrid.eu. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

4. Participants EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

5. EUMEDGRID • It’s about People: The core of the EUMEDGRID approach is to establish a human network in the eScience area, enlarge and train this community, and establish a pilot Grid infrastructure supporting proof of concept regional applications. • It’s about Technology: EUMEDGRID aims to provide specific support actions to assist the participation of the states of the Mediterranean region in the pan-European and worldwide Grid initiatives, thus expanding and supporting the European Research Area (ERA) in the region. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

6. Digital Divide http://maps.maplecroft.com/ EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

7. Social Impact • e-Infrastructures support wide geographically distributed communities → enhance international collaboration of scientists → promote collaboration in other fields. • Grids and networks allow the access of many researchers to Science (laboratories and data) → the brain drain can be reduced. • The European Research Area program wants to set Europe as the most advanced region in e-Infrastructures and promote the development of less advanced countries to alleviate as much as possible the digital divide. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

8. Corner stones • EUMEDGRID uses EGEE, and its middleware implementation gLite, as reference GRID Infrastructure. • We leverage on the existing communities already involved in international collaborations (LHC and HEP experiments are the most advanced). • EUMEDGRID is built upon and exploits the infrastructure provided by the Gigabit Pan-European Research & Education Network (GÈANT2) and the Mediterranean Research and Education Networking (EUMEDCONNECT) initiative in the region. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

9. ARN - Dz GRNET - Gr - It RED.ES - Es TUBITAK - Tr IUCC - Il JUNET - Jo MARWAN - Ma EUN - Eg CYNET - Cy The Network in the Mediterranean The NRENs in the Region are EUMEDGRID partners. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

10. Strategies • (TOP-DOWN) • Foster the creation of National Grid Initiatives (NGIs) in the Med Countries → promote the creation of sustainable national grid infrastructures with production quality level. • Deploy first those applications which are already grid-enabled and/or easy to be ported (LHC, WISDOM). • (BOTTOM-UP) • Discover and support New User Communities which will be the driving force of constant expansion and evolution of the Grid Infrastructures → stimulate new demanding application to be deployed and support NGIs creation. • Discover and support new applications which are relevant for the Region (Earth Science, Archaeology, etc.). EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

11. The EUMEDGRID e-Infrastructure INFN - CNAF INFN -Roma3 ULAKBIM CYNET INFN -Catania MA-GRID Un. of Tunis GRNET IUCC Un. of Malta ERI/EUN EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

12. 2 2 2 2 2 1 The “spread” of Knowledge: geo-distribution of training events EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

13. New Applications & Communities Questionnaire https://secure.um.edu.mt/eumedgrid/questionnaire/wp4/ EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

14. Already Deployed Applications • CODESA-3D (Earth Science) • It is a three-dimensional finite element simulator for coupled flow and density dependent transport in variably saturated porous media. • Requires data from: Geology, Topography, Meteorology, Water extraction, Aquifer properties, Soil maps, Land use. • ArchaeoGrid (Multi-disciplinar) • Paleoclimate simulation (with modern tools like MM5) • Aims at studying the origin of the City in the Mediterranean Region between X-VIII Centuries B.C. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

15. A A' Korba Grid-enabled Subsurface Hydrology application in the Mediterranean area • Sustainable management of groundwater exploitation using Monte Carlo simulation of seawater intrusion in the Korba aquifer (Tunisia). • Seawater intrusion in the aquifer is a very severe problem in some of the coastal zones of the Med Area. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

16. Grid-enabled hydrology application CODESA-3D is a three-dimensional finite element simulator for coupled flow and density dependent transport in variably saturated porous media. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

17. WHERE Archaeological data are geospatial data Archaeological GIS How many layers ? Number of layers large, depending from the complexity of the archaeological problem Archaeological sites Infrastructures Land use Aerial photo or satellite image Best resolution X,Y < 1 m Z < 0.1 m (SAR) DEM Best resolution by Differential GPS X,Y,Z ˜ few cm ArchaeoGRID (1) EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

18. WHEN Archaeological data must be ordered by time Archaeological GIS + time 1000 B.C. 500 B.C. 500 A.D. ~20 years, most precise resolution in time ArchaeoGrid (2) EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

19. Biology Applications • EUMEDGRID supported the WISDOM data challenge on it’s infrastructure. • WISDOM is an initiative for Grid-enabled drug discovery against neglected and emergent diseases, using GRIDs for in Silico Drug discovery. • Simulation of docking of compounds on proteins. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

20. First EUMEDGRID Grid School (Cairo, Egypt, 17-28 April 2007) • 10 applications selected, all “gridified”, several with a web interface based on GENIUS (biology, engineering, mathematics, physics, cognitive sciences , etc.) • 80 nodes, 4 grid sites, 6 Mb/s connection installed in a hotel The EUMEDGRID Grid School(http://www.eumedgrid.org/egsap-1) EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

21. Perspectives • Increase site availability and usability. • Strengthen and enlarge the collaboration with the Universities and Research Institutes of the Med Countries. • Increase the number of NGIs. • Discover new communities and interesting (for the area concerned) applications. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

22. Conclusions • EUMEDGRID has created a “human network” across the Mediterranean. • It is a step towards the creation of a Mediterranean Grid Infrastructure for e-Science. • We are effectively promoting the creation of National Grid Initiatives as building blocks for such an infrastructure. • We are discovering new applications and new scientific communities to collaborate with. • Collaboration and cooperation in the Mediterranean can start from science and education. • The development of countries needs to be supported by e-Infrastructures to rapidly close the gap with the more advanced regions. EGEE User Forum – Manchester 9-11 May 2007

23. Thank You !