90-Minute Symposium

090-137

The Grid, the Cloud, Sensor Nets, and the Future of Computing

Session Start/End Time:

Saturday, Feb 14, 2009, 10:30 AM -12:00 PM

HRC Columbus GH

The Internet is entering a new phase, as significant as the development of the World Wide Web. Today, thanks to Web 2.0, Web Services, the Grid, Software as a Service, and other forms of distributed computing, the Internet is becoming a platform for computing as well as communications. This platform, often called the Cloud, is a many-to-many medium, linking millions of users to thousands of computers simultaneously. It represents a fundamental shift in how computing is done. To quote Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, “We’re moving into the era of ‘cloud’ computing, with information and applications hosted in the diffuse atmosphere of cyberspace rather than on specific processors and silicon racks. The network will truly be the computer.” In Cloud computing, users rely heavily on data and software that both reside on the Internet. Typical applications include using Google Apps for word processing; the 3D Internet and virtual worlds such as Second Life that enable users to build 3D environments; and grid computing. This offers almost limitless flexibility, better reliability and security, enhanced collaboration, portability, and the ability to use simpler devices. Several leading technologists have forecast that within a few years, 80 or even 90 percent of the world’s computing and data storage will occur “in the cloud.” Cloud computing has the potential to reduce the cost and the power required to do both routine computing tasks and computationally intensive research problems.

Organized by:

Michael R Nelson, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--Michael R. Nelson, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

  The Big Switch and the Power of the Cloud--Nicholas Carr, Independent consultant, Cambridge, MA

  The GreenLight Project--Tom DeFanti, University of California San Diego, CA

  Grid Computing and the Biology Revolution--Rick Stevens, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

  Discussant--Ruth Pordes, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

  Discussant--Michael R. Nelson, Georgetown University, Washington, DC