Thanks to commercial cloud resources procured via OCRE project adoption funding, researchers at Univerzitet Singidunum in Serbia (in collaboration with Univesidade Lusófona, Portugal) are developing algorithmic solutions for autonomous swarms of drones, enabling them to safely perform complex tasks in unknown environments using on-board sensors and inter-drone communication. The possible applications of this technology are many, including prevention and assistance with natural disasters, inspection and maintenance of industrial infrastructure, assistance with search and rescue operations. OCRE Cloud Adoption Funding for Research allowed the project to access to the specialised computing resources required to perform complex and...
Tag - OCRE
A new success story showcasing the adoption and use of commercial cloud solutions has been published by the OCRE project. The adopter is Leiden University who was facing critical computational challenges in analysing terabytes of housing platform data to better understand search behaviour of potential house buyers. The computational challenges and storage issues have been overcome by using the Google Cloud Platform and more precisely cloud services related to storage and advanced analytics; that is, Google Cloud Storage (IaaS) and Google BigQuery (SaaS). These solutions have saved Leiden University from having to set up its own IT infrastructure and made it possible to do a complex big data project with modest means. This case demonstrates...
Fifteen innovative research projects will benefit from commercial cloud solutions through EU cloud project Open Clouds for Research Environments (OCRE), demonstrating the adoption and effectiveness of commercial cloud services in research. Approximately €6 million will be distributed to the successful applicants, each receiving between €100,000 and €500,000. This is the second and final call run by the OCRE project for the adoption of the cloud services available through the OCRE IaaS+ framework agreements. It proves a new funding mechanism with commercial cloud providers teaming up directly with researchers to apply. All applications were screened, evaluated, scored and ranked by the OCRE cloud adoption funding team and overseen by the...
The OCRE Cloud and Earth Observation (EO) adoption for research open calls which closed the 12th and 15th of July 2022 saw a high participation. The proposals received have assured the OCRE Team of compelling use cases to demonstrate the effectiveness of commercial Cloud and Earth Observation (EO) services in producing better research outcomes. And the high quantity of proposals and large amount of interest has demonstrated the effectiveness of the new funding mechanism used in the Cloud call. In total the two calls will see the remaining EC funding distributed directly to the researchers who need it in the form of vouchers. In the case of the Cloud call, an accelerated adoption model was used, whereby the commercial suppliers engaged...
The EC-funded OCRE project is awarding approximately €500,000 per project to fund cloud infrastructure, platform and software services that drive agility and accelerate outcomes for qualifying research projects. This includes both Cloud and Earth Observation services. We encourage you to engage with researchers in your institutions to take advantage of this funding and share this information with their colleagues, students and networks. As coordinators for the OCRE Frameworks in each country, NRENs can play a vital role in supporting research projects with this funding call. Please use national channels to raise awareness of this opportunity among research communities, and work to facilitate the necessary partnerships (e.g. project...
Since its launch last year, the 2020 IaaS+ Framework has been making it easy for the European research and education community to access a wide portfolio of cloud services and platforms tailored to their needs. However, while all suppliers selected via the OCRE project tender are bound by GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulations, there are some necessary and fundamental considerations about international data transfers and GDPR compliance that organisations should make before selecting the providers that meet their requirements. In order to address the most common questions and provide guidance to European NRENs and connected institutions that are seeking to use – or actively using – the Framework, a team formed by HEAnet’s...
22 September 2021, 13:00-14:30 CET This infoshare will highlight the opportunities presented to the NRENs by the OCRE Project in terms of the digital services framework based on current R&E consumption trends and trajectory. We will also discuss the current issues experienced by the NRENs, institutes and suppliers using the call-off contracts, present on the status of the current institutional procurements and pending DPS for Earth Observation services. We will then address the remaining project activities focused on driving the adoption of cloud services and the way forward with EOSC Future (synergies). REGISTER HERE Practical information: The Infoshare will be recorded and made available through the GÉANT GLAD Website: The link and...
On 10 August 2021, all of the 40 OCRE contract award notices (one for each country) were published successfully by the OJEU TED eTendering platform related to contract notice 2020/S 074-176523. The announcement is published in the 24 official EU languages on the platform and marks the official finalisation of the OCRE tender. This means that all underlying 473 awarded framework contracts under the OCRE project are active. The awarded suppliers can also be found in the OCRE Cloud Catalogue. Read the award notices About TED TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the ‘Supplement to the Official Journal’ of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement. TED publishes 746 thousand procurement award notices a year, including...
The CERN Validation Test Suite is an open source tool, that can be used by researchers from multiple disciplines to test and validate cloud offerings from commercial providers. The test-suite is being used in the scope of many projects, including OCRE, which plans to deploy it in 25 platforms (out of 26) in the OCRE Framework, before December 2021.
Recently, the OCRE Project team had the opportunity to speak with João Fernandes, Project Leader at CERN to find out more about the test-suite and how the OCRE community and the research community at large can get involved.
Read the full interview on the OCRE website:
Following the recent developments in the OCRE Project, the GÉANT cloud team released a cookbook providing guidance to NRENs and their connected institutions on the use of the 2020 IaaS+ Framework Agreement. The Cookbook explains the basics of how the Framework operates, outlines its benefits, offers a step by-step description of roles, illustrates how to adopt the Framework and how to start the provisioning of procured cloud services using one of three available methods. Finally, it summarises the GÉANT support available to NRENs at all stages of cloud services deployment, from initial specifications and design to service portfolio rollout. The guide is primarily aimed at the Cloud Service Delivery Managers appointed by European NRENs and...
