Speaker
Prof.
Arshad Ali
(National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) Pakistan)
Description
We present a report on Grid activities in Pakistan over the last three years and
conclude that there is significant technical and economic activity due to the
participation in Grid research and development. We started collaboration with
participation in the CMS software development group at CERN and Caltech in 2001. This
has led to the current setup for CMS production and the LCG Grid deployment in
Pakistan. Our research group has been participating actively in the development work
of PPDG and OSG, and is now working in close collaboration with Caltech to create the
next generation infrastructure for data intensive science under the Interactive Grid
Enabled Environment (IGAE) project within a broader context of Ultralight
collaboration. This collaboration is based on a partnership with the University of
the West of England (UWE) UK under the EU funded Asia Link program and Caltech under
an exchange program from the US state Department. The collaboration on Grid
Monitoring and Digital divide activities with Caltech using the MonALISA monitoring
framework and with SLAC on Maggie has not only helped to train our faculty and
students but it has also helped to improve the infrastructure, bandwidth and
computing capabilities in Pakistan. The collaboration extends to Wuhan University and
BIT china, Comtec Japan and Kyong Hee University Korea on human resource and
expertise development programmes in Grid and related areas.
The dedicated team of researchers (faculty and students) not only participates in
international research activities but also supports industry and advising the
government to address the digital divide issues, and internet information access to
its population. Our initiative proved to be a catalyst for other universities in
Pakistan with a growing interest in all national universities to collaborate in Grid
activities. This activity strengthened the learning abilities and concepts of our
students who have become the first graduate student choice by universities of
international repute. Discussions have already been started about establishment of a
National Grid in Pakistan and the means to mobilize resources in basic sciences,
government departments and the business community.
Primary author
Prof.
Arshad Ali
(National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) Pakistan)
