"South-East European eInfrastructures: programming and vision" Working towards a Common Vision and Sustainable Cooperation in South East Europe

Regional vision and long term cooperation for the development of sustainable eInfrastructures in South East Europe were the main topics that were discussed at the SEERA-EI Open Workshop "South-East European eInfrastructures: programming and vision".  The event was held with great success in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 12th, and it was organized in the framework of the EC funded SEERA-EI (South East European Research Area for eInfrastructures) project.

The workshop brought together high-level representatives from ministries & national agencies of 10 South East European countries, amongst whom were 3 vice-Ministers and a number of Ministerial councilors and heads of executive departments, and became the platform for exchanging ideas and enabling cooperation towards the formulation of the eInfrastructures strategy for the region. The European Commission representative, Information Society and Media Directorate-General GÉANT & eInfrastructures, as well as representatives of National Research and Education Networks and National Grid Initiatives were also present.

During the discussions, special emphasis was given on the significant impact of the joint technical activities that have taken place in the field of eInfrastructures in SEE over the past 6 years. The participants agreed on the importance of formulating a joint vision and adopting a common regional agenda, based on shared experiences in supporting and funding eInfrastructures on the level of individual countries. By the end of the workshop, policy makers had agreed on working together towards this vision and the joint action plan of cooperation, as specified in the Distribution of Work of the SEERA-EI project.

SEERA-EI kicked off in Athens on 9th April 2009, and it will provide an open forum for national-level programme owners in order to enable the coordination of national programmes in the field of electronic infrastructures. The initiative brings together 19 partners from 10 countries in the South-East European region and will set the framework for the adoption of a common regional agenda for eInfrastructure. SEERA-EI receives EC support through FP7 under the "Research Infrastructures" action.
The workshop was hosted by the Institute for Parallel Processing of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IPP-BAS), with the support of Executive Agency for Electronic Communications Network and Information Systems (EA ECNIS).

SEERA-EI is coordinated by the Greek Research & Technology Network (GRNET) and the partnership consists of 10 programme owners – Ministries and Research councils involved in national funding of electronic infrastructures, and 9 “operational” partners, typically operating the infrastructure programmes in the respective countries and implementing the programmes strategy.

Links
SEERA-EI, www.seera-ei.eu

Contact:
Ognjen Prnjat, oprnjat@grnet.gr, +30 210 7474283