NCSA NEWS

Access Grid Goes International with SC Global

released January 9, 2001

 

Contacts
Karen Green
NCSA
kareng@ncsa.uiuc.edu
217.265.0748

Julie Wulf
Argonne National Laboratory
wulf@mcs.anl.gov
630.252.7163

Organizers seeking participants in international global conference

ARGONNE, IL — The first global technical conference using Grid technologies to link large groups at multiple sites around the world will be held as part of the SC2001 conference, the annual high-performance networking and computing conference held each year in November.

This global extension to the SC conference, called SC Global, will use Access Grid technologies to link the SC2001 program at the Denver Convention Center with dozens of sites worldwide, called SC Constellation sites. The Access Grid (http://www.accessgrid.org/) is a system that links groups over high-speed networks for virtual meetings and other collaborative sessions. Developed by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, the Access Grid is being deployed by the National Computational Science Alliance.

SC Global organizers are encouraging organizations and institutions worldwide to take part in the event by becoming SC Constellation sites and by developing local programs and workshops of interest to the high-performance computing community. Those programs will be shared with other Constellation sites and with participants at SC2001 via the Access Grid.

"SC Global will be a multi-national, multi-cultural meeting place where people from all over the world will be able to discuss their ideas about high-performance computing and communications and its impact on science and society." said Ian Foster, senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, professor of computer science at the University of Chicago, and head of the SC Global project. "SC Global will be a living, persistent virtual meeting space throughout the SC conference. It will give more people a chance to participate in the conference and it will offer a first look at what global conferences of the future will be like." He added that the SC Global infrastructure will provide unique opportunities for exploring new means of interaction. "Globally distributed panels, remote presentations, and distributed jam sessions are all possible. We've already seen some great ideas and are looking for more."

Those interested in participating in SC Global should review the document "Becoming an SC Global Constellation Site" at the SC Global website (http://www.mcs.anl.gov/scglobal/). Those who decide to participate should send email indicating their intent by Jan. 19 to planners@mcs.anl.gov. Due to the level of interest and participation in an Access Grid Retreat and Tutorial scheduled for the end of January at Argonne, more tutorials are being scheduled for early spring in both Europe and the U.S. Information will be posted on the SC Global website.

By Feb. 16 participants must email a proposal to planners@mcs.anl.gov explaining how they plan to participate in SC Global and how they plan to use Access Grid technologies. A complete Call for Proposals is available at the SC Global website. Technical crews at all the Constellation sites will begin practice sessions on the Access Grid in June. SC Global events will take place Nov. 10-16 during SC2001.

International Constellation Sites are expected to be finalized by March 30 and specific program proposals for the Constellation Sites should be submitted by April 27. Details on what to include in the proposal are available at the SC2001 website in the general "Call for Participation" section. See http://www.sc2001.org/.

 

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