WP11 - Technology Watch

The Technology Watch task force will comprise technical experts from each of the three BioMedBridges workpackages (WP3, 4 and 5) plus senior advisers from the ICT e-infrastructures community. The task force will monitor relevant developments in e-Infrastructures, providing information, reports and links through the BioMedBridges website.

The Technology Watch task force will attend the AGM and then report to the management structure. They will provide advice on current developments at the cutting edge of e-science and identify developments relevant to the BMS infrastructures, which could be adopted as the project progresses. They will provide advice on technical problems of concern to the workpackages and discuss relevant new developments identified by the e-Advisory Board members.

The Technology Watch task force will produce periodic reports on the status of e-Infrastructures relevant to the progress of BioMedBridges Workpackages, including the technology requirements for use cases and recommendations for the adoption of new e-Infrastructure technologies and standards.

Key tasks include:

• Collation of e-Infrastructure requirements from ESFRI BMS projects to identify areas of common interest
• Collation of requirements for data and service bridges from BioMedBridges Workpackages
• Acting as a focus for the communication of updates on e-Infrastructure technology developments to partners.
• Reporting on the status of ICT e-Infrastructures from the viewpoint of the ESFRI BMS projects
• Making technical recommendations on current and potential e-Infrastructure technologies

An important source of information exchange will be the e-Infrastructure Reflection Group, which was founded to define and recommend best practices for the pan-European electronic infrastructure efforts. It consists of official government delegates from all the EU countries. The e-IRG produces white papers, roadmaps and recommendations, and analyses the future foundations of the European Knowledge Society and the needs of ESFRI projects in each domain.

Common issues identified for ESFRI BMS projects in the latest e-IRG blue paper are:

• Ability to manage massive quantities of data being generated across Europe and continuously growing
• Access to a wide variety of databases which are regularly updated
• Dealing with patient data where secure data management is essential
• Ease of use via Single Sign-On facility
• Large-scale usage of grid and cloud computing (within individual ESFRI BMS projects)
• Education and training for e-Infrastructure usage

The task force will work with the e-Infrastructures Reflection Group by monitoring e-IRG reports and contacting e-IRG members for further information on e-Infrastructures and technologies of interest.