Enabling knowledge transfer with the EPIKH project

e-Science and e-Infrastructures are key enablers of progress and sustainable development, and concrete means by which to address the ‘digital divide’ and ‘brain drain’ endemic in large parts of the world.
To turn the vision of a European Research Area (ERA) into reality, Europe is heavily investing to create a grid-based continental e-Infrastructure. In the context of its 6th and 7th Framework Programmes, the European Commission has cofunded several projects that stimulate and foster e-Science and grids well beyond its borders, in parts of the world such as Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean.

Exchange Programme to advance e-Infrastructure Know-How
However, adoption of the ‘grid paradigm’ and effective use of research e-Infrastructures requires knowledge dissemination and training. It is to achieve just this that the ‘Exchange Programme to advance e-Infrastructure Know-How’ (EPIKH) (www.epikh.eu) was created. EPIKH aims to reduce the digital divide and brain drain by:
• Reinforcing the impact of e-Infrastructures in scientific research by defining and delivering stimulating educational programmes, including Grid Schools and High Performance Computing courses;
• Broadening engagement in e-Science activities and collaborations both geographically and across disciplines.
These ambitious goals translate into the following specific actions:
• Use an extensive training programme to spread knowledge of the ‘grid paradigm’ to potential users, including system administrators and application developers;
• Provide trained people with easy access to relevant e-Infrastructures;
• Foster the establishment of scientific collaborations between countries and continents involved in the project.
The exchange programme will be implemented in alternating phases:
• first, a select team of brilliant young researchers will visit EPIKH’s EU partners for around one month to be trained as trainers of grid technology (including site administration and application support (‘gridification’));
• second, EPIKH will organise and run at least two educational events per year and per continent (Africa, Asia, and Latin America), training new users to access and apply a pilot e-Infrastructure on which applications can be deployed, developed, and then used as exemplar use cases in future events.
The EPIKH project will shift the educative mission by developing an intensive and diversified training programme in which grids are not the ‘goal’ but rather the ‘means’ by which to develop e-Science applications, gather scientific communities from four continents, and access globally distributed production quality e-Infrastructures.
The EPIKH consortium unites 23 institutions from 18 countries across four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. EPIKH will mobilize about 115 people for more than 650 researchermonths, not counting, of course, those who will be trained by and benefit from the project. These are huge figures, confirming the strong interest of these four continents in setting up a programme to improve dissemination of know-how about grid and e-Infrastructures. Two EPIKH Grid Schools have been planned so far:

“Latin America 1 - 2009” was held in Queretaro, Mexico City, from 28 September to 10 October 2009.  This event was co-organized with the EELA-2 project. For more information visit http://agenda.ct.infn.it/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=179.

“Africa 1 - 2009” will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 16 November to 4 December 2009. This school will be held immediately prior to the CHPC/BELIEF-II conference.
The technical nature of the EPIKH event will complement the political and strategic aims of the CHPC/BELIEF-II one. For more information visit http://agenda.ct.infn.it/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=182.