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Developing National Grid Pilot Platform into an Operational
Grid
23 March 2004
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and
Hewlett Packard (HP) Singapore today launched Adaptive Enterprise
@ Singapore, a projected S$22 million strategic collaboration
designed to enable enterprises to benefit from grid and utility
technologies.
A Memorandum of Intent (MOI) was signed between IDA and
HP to explore the emerging technologies of grid and utility
computing in Singapore. Building on Singapore's well-established
infrastructure1, the three-year Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore
collaboration will see the deployment of these technologies
that are designed to spur new growth areas such as online
games and digital media.
"This partnership with HP is in line with IDA's role
to develop capabilities in new technologies for the benefit
of Singapore users and the infocomm industry. The application
of new grid and utility computing solutions across the various
industries promises significant cost-savings and new economic
activities," said Mrs Tan Ching Yee, Chief Executive
Officer, IDA.
The framework of this collaboration is based on HP's Adaptive
Enterprise strategy, which recognises how enterprises require
IT infrastructures that scale and flex according to business
needs.
"HP is privileged to work in partnership with IDA to
advance grid and utility computing technologies in Singapore.
Like any business, Singapore faces the challenges of a fast-changing
economic climate and competition in the global marketplace.
We firmly believe that this collaboration will propel innovations
and drive new business engines that provide Singapore the
edge to compete," said Mr Tan Choon Seng, Vice President
and Managing Director, HP Southeast Asia and Singapore.
The
Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore collaboration aims to help
enterprises tap on grid and utility technology
through
research & development, vertical clusters test-bedding,
and enterprise and manpower development.
The first two initiatives to take off under Adaptive Enterprise
@ Singapore are Games Bazaar and Global Operational Grid.
First vertical cluster to take off under Adaptive Enterprise
@ Singapore
The Games Bazaar is a scalable environment that allows game
companies, publishers and distributors to deploy their game
titles regionally with low initial capital costs. Led by
IDA, and supported by HP and SingTel EXPAN, the Games Bazaar
offers a utility pricing model, so games companies can pay
for hosting services and bandwidth based on what they use.
The deployment provides Singapore with a flexible IT infrastructure
and low-cost data centre management capabilities. In essence,
it brings about greater speed and business agility that is
essential for competing in the high growth online games industry.
According to IDC, the Asian online games market could hit
US$1 billion by 20062.
Singapore now part of the global operational grid
A second initiative is a concerted research and development
effort under Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore to establish
Singapore as the first Asia-Pacific node within the Global
Operational Grid. This initiative is undertaken by HP and
National Grid Office (NGO), supported by IDA.
This Global Operational Grid is being built by a worldwide
consortium of partners, including e-Science in the United
Kingdom, Tera-Grid in the US, CERN and HP. The Grid addresses
the complex computational problems presented by scientific
research.
"True grid is an international community effort that
benefits from collaboration. To this end, we are pleased
that Singapore is the first Asia-Pacific nation to join CERN's
operational grid which provides the framework for solving
real business applications. Grid technology is a major building
block for the adaptive enterprise and will become increasingly
important for commercial applications," said Dick Lampman,
Senior Vice President of Research and Director of HP Labs.
Singapore's
research institutes and institutes of higher learning will
benefit from the connection to
CERN and the
worldwide research community. This will act as the catalyst
for collaborations on R&D projects, creating new intellectual
property, developing talents, and accelerating knowledge
transfer.
Dr
Cheok Beng Teck, Director of the National Grid Office,
said, "In developing an operational grid,
we will work with HP and its partners to deploy technologies
to make the
National Grid Pilot Platform3 more robust, resilient, usable
and adaptable as well as extend our international network
connectivity. This partnership model of working with technology
leaders is an excellent example of collaboration - in the
true spirit of grid computing."
With this Global Operational Grid, organisations can take
advantage of time zone differences to tap on unused computing
resources regardless of geographic location. Organisations
embarking on new research initiatives that require heavy
computing power can also tap on the IT resources of the Grid
without acquiring new hardware. This helps reduce the total
cost of IT ownership.
The global consortium will also drive the commercial viability
of the operational grid. making it the first global commercial
grid. As a key partner, Singapore is in a prime position
to shape the IT landscape of the future.
______________________________________________________________
JOINTLY ISSUED BY INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
AND HEWLETT PACKARD SINGAPORE
______________________________________________________________
Notes to Editor:
1 Singapore is the most connected city in Asia with more
than 10 Gbps of extensive and direct Internet connectivity
to over 20 countries. This comprises 4 Gbps to the USA and
over 140 Mbps to Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Japan, India,
Korea, Taiwan and China. In addition, Singapore's direct
Internet connectivity to major ASEAN countries is at least
70 Mbps.
2 IDC online gaming reports, May 2003.
3 The National Grid Pilot Platform is the first phase of
Singapore's cyberinfrastructure. This high speed network
connecting technical computing resources has been conceived
in response for a pragmatic approach to develop a cyber-infrastructure
in Singapore. The NGPP aims to support Grid Computing for
academia, research and industry. www.ngpp.ngp.org.sg
About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) develops,
promotes and regulates info-communications in Singapore,
with the aim of establishing Singapore as one of the world's
premier infocomm capitals. To nurture an internationally
competitive infocomm industry, IDA offers a comprehensive
range of programmes and schemes for both local and international
companies. For more information, visit www.idanews.gov.sg.
PR Contact for IDA Singapore
Stella WONG
Corporate Communication
Tel: (65) 6211 1815
Email: stella_wong@ida.gov.sg
WONG Yin Mei
Corporate Communication
Tel: (65) 6211 1724
Email: wong_yin_mei@ida.gov.sg
About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses
and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT
infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global
services and imaging and printing. For the last four fiscal
quarters, HP revenue totaled $74.7 billion. More information
about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions
that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could
cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are statements that could
be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections
of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements
of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management
for future operations; any statements concerning proposed
new services or developments; any statements regarding
future economic conditions or performance; statements of
belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any
of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions
referred to above include employee management issues; the
timely development, production and acceptance of services
and their feature sets; the challenge of managing asset
levels, including inventory; the difficulty of keeping
expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues;
and other risks that are described from time to time in
HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including
but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2003, and reports filed after
the form 10-K. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend
to update these forward-looking statements.
PR Contact for HP Singapore
Rebecca BRADY
Public Relations Manager
Enterprise Systems Group
Tel: (65) 6374 7898
Email: rebecca.brady@hp.com
Elvin ONG
Hill & Knowlton
Tel: (65) 6390 3343
Email: eong@hillandknowlton.com.sg
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