Grid Meter » GRIDtoday: European Grid use more advanced, but why?

May 30, 2006 | Comments: (0)

GRIDtoday: European Grid use more advanced, but why?

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Derrick Harris -- editor of GRIDtoday -- yesterday weighed in on the fact that European Grid users are, on average, 'more advanced than their North American counterparts.'

Harris goes on to pose a theory for Europe's advanced usage: a 'community spirit' where sharing and cooperation seems to be a more common social norm between the countries (whereas we tend to think much more in terms of the individual countries - U.S., Canada, Mexico - than as a single "North America" entity).

I think Harris' theory has merit. But another possible theory I'd introduce is that some European countries' governments are specifically creating incentives that reward technology efforts that promote the national trade agenda. This results in academic and research oriented projects that are more applicable to enterprise. Indeed, European research institutions actively partner with commercial entities.

For example, the UK's Department of Trade and Industry gives government funding to technology initiatives such as the Belfast e-Science Centre, which (among other initiatives) helped build the BBC's Gridcast grid computing framework for large broadcast file transmission.

Posted by Greg Nawrocki on May 30, 2006 09:51 AM

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