1. "The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission" A process leading to the establishment of a research networking infrastructure on the Balkans Bernhard FABIANEK Bernhard.Fabianek@cec.eu.int European Commission, Information Society Directorate-General SEEREN Inauguration Event Thessaloniki, 9 January, 2004

2. Objectives Connect the Scientific Community on the Balkan with each other and to GÉANT - 1.3 M€, started in December 2002 Process Analysis of the Research Networking Situation in the Region Close Collaboration of All Stakeholders Tendering Procedure with Intensive Interaction with Industry Rapid Implementation of the Network Infrastructure Follow-up: SEE-GRID proposal Introduction of a Grid Enabled e-Infrastructure in SE Europe Co-operating with SEEREN, GÉANT and EGEE - 1 M€ SEEREN - The Project

3. Pan-European coverage 38 Countries/NRENs plus 5 SEEREN Countries/NRENs Linking more than 3900 Universities Total 200 M€ over 4 years (80 M€ from EU) Collaborative Research Networking <2,5Gbit/s 2,5Gbit/s 10 Gbit/s US EUROLINK Canada Japan China Japan Korea SILK NeDAP EUMEDconnect SEEREN

4. GÉANT + SEEREN Communication Network International Dimension Testbeds use GÉANT + SEEREN infrastructure GÉANT + SEEREN profit from technological innovation IPv6 GRIDs Scientific/Application Areas Research Networking: A Successful Model

5. Vision: Create an inclusive e-Infrastructure e-Infrastructure (Grids empowered) e-Infrastructure (Grids empowered) security mobility semantic web. automatic management broadband e-Learning e-Business aeronautics genomics environment astronomy e-Health e-Science Grid

6. pan-european network incl. SEEREN pan-european grid incl. SEE-Grid supercomputers research results from IST (e.g. networking & Grid research) specific services operational support federating NI training networking joint research activities global file system middleware AAA international dimension intrinsic from the start First Steps towards an e-Infrastructure

7.  The European Union R&D Programme is open to South East European partners  The provision of an e-Infrastructure is fundamental for the realisation of the European Research Area  SEEREN established this underlying infrastructure allowing for the equal participation of the scientific community on the Balkans ConclusionsConclusions Congratulations to the SEEREN Consortium for this Great Achievement!