1. Delivery of industrial-strength Grid middleware: Establishing an effective European approach Professor Yike Guo Imperial College London, UK & InforSense Limited, UK

2. Grid : To be or not to be….. A possible failure of Grid computing : a special infrastructure for big science (e.g. the fifth generation computing) The success of Grid computing : A new IT infrastructure for the entire society (e.g. the Internet) The key to a successful research planning in Europe : a right vision of the industry/business impact of the Grid computing Industrial-strength Grid middleware is the mean, rather the goal, of the Gird-based IT industry

3. Grid Application Service: A Possible Industry Model From Application Service Provision (ASP) to Grid Application Service Provision (GAS) Technical Characteristics of GAS : –Service provision decentralisation –Dynamic composition of services for flexible and personalise-able use Application ASP Internet Middleware for Communication Application GAS Grid Middleware for Service Mediation/Composition Application Application Grid Services

4. Challenge for Grid Research Industrial awareness of Grid : not only a technology but also a strategic business opportunity (e.g. Oracle 10g: Enterprise Grid ) Academic awareness of Grid : –Grid OGS –Grid middleware Globus –The interaction of Grid technology with the entire computing science and technology community Grid research should not be isolated! Industrial-strength software is the result of industrial practice : –Investing a new business rather than a technology –Industrial collaboration research industrialisation –Industrial-strength no technical innovation –Open source: a business model or a philosophy The further investment in Grid should focus on building the foundation of a new Grid-based IT industry such as, Grid Application Service, in Europe.

5. Suggestion for Action European Institute of Grid Computing: to establish a virtual organisation to coordinate and consolidate the European-wide research and development effort on Grid-based IT industry Public Grid Application Service Pilots: to set up a well defined pilot projects to build up Grid Application Services which can generate immediate benefits to Europe general public, such as environmental study, energy, ecology, health care, education and social benefits.