SAP has opened a £1.5m grid research centre at Queen’s
University in Belfast.
The centre
is collaborating with the University of Ulster and Queen’s
University to carry out research into the emerging technology.
Grid
computing involves sharing computing power and data storage
capacity over the internet, providing users with the ability to
perform higher throughput computing by taking advantage of many
networked computers.
Professor
Lutz Heuser, vice-president of SAP Research, said, “The centre’s
location in Northern Ireland assures SAP of access to the most
advanced grid computing research community in Europe.”
A recent
report conducted by the Insight Research Corporation estimated that
worldwide grid spending would grow from $1.8bn (£972m) in 2006 to
around $24.5bn in 2011.
The
European Commission recently announced that it would by plying
millions of euros into grid computing research around Europe, as
part of attempts to provide new IT opportunities to European
businesses and citizens.