JISC

Overview

This project (Engage) seeks to empower researchers to exploit the benefits of e-Infrastructure by developing and deploying new software solutions on available UK e-Infrastructure like the NGS through a proactive programme of community engagement, development and evaluation. The initiative also aims to carry out a wider analysis of e-Research requirements in order to inform future JISC, NGS and OMII-UK activities. This in turn aims to help NGS and OMII-UK to build new capacity to better deliver future e-Research solutions. As a result, projects will benefit from better engagement with e-Infrastructure and collected information on ways of addressing e-Research computing requirements.

Aims and Objectives

The overall aim of the project is to improve the experience of research users of UK e-Infrastructure, and promote the use of UK e-Infrastructure to a wider set of users by engaging with different research communities. Through this programme the National Grid Service and OMII-UK will work together with the research and e-infrastructure communities to develop software solutions and deliver services that will enable new communities of researchers to benefit from the national e-Research infrastructure.

The specific objectives are to:

• To empower researchers to exploit the benefits of e-Research infrastructures by developing and deploying new software solutions on the NGS
• To achieve this through a proactive programme of community engagement, development and evaluation, in conjunction with the JISC e-IUS and e-Uptake projects
• To develop a wider analysis of e-Research requirements which will inform future JISC, NGS and OMII-UK activities
• To publish via a web portal a repository of information for the community based on the analysis of e-Research requirements that will improve the community understanding of using e-Infrastructure
• To build new capacity in NGS and OMII-UK to better deliver future e-Research solutions
  Project Methodology:

The project intends to accomplish its objectives through a broad series of user-driven “vertical” engagements in which solutions will be developed to meet the needs of research communities – a similar approach to that adopted in the JISC VRE programme and the “Science Gateways” of the US Teragrid project. These solutions will enable researchers to benefit from the NGS.
The programme is implemented through four major activities:

• An open exercise in gathering software and service requirements for supporting research
• Follow-ups to determine detailed requirements in areas with most substantial benefit
• Software tool development and integration
• The delivery and evaluation of services to the users

The progress of these activities will be published regularly through the project website to allow for frequent review and validation by the research community, as well as to enable the research community to benefit from the collection of this content.

Implications / Deliverables / Stakeholders

The outputs of the project are expected to serve different but related stakeholder requirements:

• UK researchers seeking concrete examples of the use of e-Infrastructure to meet their specific needs will have a larger categorised resource at their disposal
• Some specific research communities will have additional software and architectures built for them to improve their utilization of the e-Infrastructure
• e-Infrastructure providers and integrators like the NGS and OMII-UK will have additional information to help formulate their research and development strategies; and
• JISC and other funding bodies will have additional information to aid developing strategic programmes and services.

Project Partners

• OMII-UK (represented by University of Southampton, The University of Manchester and The University of Edinburgh)
• The National Grid Service (represented by the Science and Technology Facilities Council)