GRIDs and Ambient Computing

Abstract

GRIDs are both a new and an old concept. Many of the components have been the subject of R&D and some exist as commercial products. The GRIDs concept represents many different things to different people: metacomputing, distributed computing, advanced networking, distributed database, information retrieval, digital libraries, hypermedia, cooperative working, knowledge management, advanced user interfaces, mobile and pervasive computing and many others. More importantly, end-users see the GRIDs technology as a means to an end - to improve quality, speed of working and cooperation in their field. GRIDs will deliver the required information in an appropriate form to the right place in a timely fashion. The novelty of GRIDs lies in the information systems engineering required in generating missing components and putting the components together. Ambient computing provides new possibilities in connectivity of a person (with or without sensors or data detectors) to a GRIDs environment allowing previously unimaginable possibilities in information delivery, data collection, command and control, cooperative working, communications, learning and entertainment.