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Free keywords:
Knowledge Networking; e-Science
Abstract:
This paper will discuss the e-Research strategies in Germany, the UK
and elsewhere with a view to identifying potential lessons that can be
learned. The UK e-Science initiative has been ongoing for more than
five years, as has the cyberinfrastructure initiative in the US. The
German D-Grid and other e-Research initiatives are much more
recent. Generic lessons identified from our cross-national observations
include the need to take usability into consideration at the outset of
programmes; ‘soft infrastructure’ issues, such as legal and ethical
considerations, can delay technological developments; ‘Grid-based
infrastructure’ can seem irrelevant to domains outside of large-scale
research, complex security systems often lead to ‘work-arounds’ that
undermine the integrity of the system; and uptake beyond the initial
development group is highly uncertain.
