Coordinating Inter-NREN Service Provision in Europe

Transcription

1 Coordination action (CA) proposal ICT Call 4 FP7-ICT Coordinating Inter-NREN Service Provision in Europe Coordination action (CA) Date of preparation: 31/03/2009 Version number (optional): v08 [] Work programme topic addressed ICT General Accompanying Measures: c) Co-ordinated approach to the setting-up of shared research facilities excellence centres or clusters Name of the coordinating person: Harri Kuusisto harri.kuusisto@csc.fi fax: Participant no. * Participant organisation name Part. short Country name 1 (Coordinator) CSC Tieteen tietotekniikan keskus CSC Finland Oy 2 UNINETT AS UNINETT Norway 3 HEAnet Ltd. HEAnet Ireland 4 SURFnet bv SURFnet The Netherlands Proposal Part B 1 / 34

2 Proposal abstract National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are major e-infrastructure and service providers for today s European research and education community. By providing reliable and high performance nationwide network connectivity and advanced services, they actively contribute to the development of knowledge, economic growth and prosperity within European countries, and enable the European Union to strengthen its leadership in research and education networking. Yet, the development of NRENs activities is today partially hampered by a lack of coordination and suitable framework encouraging exchanges and transfers of services internationally between European countries. In the, project selected NREN partners with a long history in collaboration on service management and innovative service development in Europe join together, with the aim of forming an excellence cluster for coordinating the provision of advanced network services between NRENs and between them and their commercial third party partners across Europe. To achieve this objective, the consortium will bring together the relevant stakeholders and examine the current situation regarding the provision of inter-nren services. The project will identify the interested parties from both supply and demand point of view and the most active services and service areas on the European market. Some key issues, such as the legal framework related to the provision of services outside national boundaries, procurement and contractual issues, as well as business models and policy environment, will also be analysed. The project will disseminate its results through the organisation of workshops, which will also act as platforms for further developing collaboration activities within Europe. Proposal Part B 2 / 34

3 Table of contents 1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call Concept and objectives Contribution to the co-ordination of high quality research Quality and effectiveness of the coordination mechanisms and associated workpackages... 7 Work package list List of Deliverables Milestones Work package 1 description: Work package 2 description: Work package 3 description: Work package 4 description: Work package 5 description: Risk analysis Implementation Management structure and procedures Communication within the project Rules of voting Individual participants CSC Tieteen tietotekniikan keskus Oy UNINETT AS HEAnet Limited SURFnet Consortium as a whole The expertise of the participants and their contributions to the work packages Subcontracting Resources to be committed Impact Expected impacts listed in the work programme Spreading excellence, exploiting results, disseminating knowledge Ethical Issues List of Figures Figure 1: The " Matrix"... 8 Figure 2: The Double Ring... 9 Figure 3: GANTT Chart Figure 4: Project Management Structure List of Tables Table 1: Work package list Table 2: List of deliverables Table 3: List of milestones Table 4: Summary of effort Table 5: Risk table Proposal Part B 3 / 34

4 1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call 1.1. Concept and objectives National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are major e-infrastructure and service providers for today s European research and education community. During the past 30 years, NRENs have had a considerable impact on the European Research Area, as advanced network services comprise the most fundamental layer of infrastructure and support for escience, and for the advent of knowledge-based society in general. By providing reliable and high performance nation-wide network connectivity and advanced services, they actively contribute to the development of knowledge, economic growth and prosperity within European countries, and enable the European Union to strengthen its leadership in research and education networking 1. Yet, the development of NRENs activities is today partially hampered by a lack of coordination and suitable framework or market place encouraging the exchanges of services across European countries. So far, the main paradigm for service development and provision has been mostly nationally focused. As a result, similar sets of services have been separately developed and provided, by each of the nearly 40 NRENs in Europe. Alternatively, each NREN could focus on the services for which they have the best expertise and resources, and that are the most important for their particular constituency. Other services, for which they have less resources or expertise or which are deemed less important, could be procured from other NRENs. This would result in significant cost and resource savings, and in increased productivity at the European scale. This would also increase the quality of the services provided for end-users, given that most of the services would be provided with the best available expertise and resources by those NRENs that have a specific focus and interest on these services. In the end, this would directly benefit the whole research and education community. There are several obstacles that hamper the harmonious development of services across national boundaries. Some legal, procurement-related and contractual issues discourage or slow down the cooperation between NRENs. The NRENs have very different policies concerning their customer base and service portfolios, and also very different mandates from their owners and funders, making it often difficult to negotiate service exchange. There is also no sustainable market place currently in place for advancing this kind of inter-nren service market in Europe, although one should not be too hard to set-up under the TERENA framework, for example, if common understanding on this issue would be reached between the majority of European NRENs. All these challenges call for a coordination action across Europe. The project brings together a consortium of selected mid-sized European NRENs who have a long standing history in European collaboration on service management and innovative service development. All partners have first hand experience on initiatives for international service provision between each other and other European NRENs, commercial partners and spin-off companies of their customer organisations. The aim of this consortium is to form an excellence cluster for coordinating the provision of advanced network services between NRENs and between them and their commercial third party partners across Europe. Thus, the general goal of the project is to widen access to and use of the best services currently 1 TERENA, Networks for Knowledge and Innovation, A Strategic Study of European Research and Education Networking, SERENATE Summary Report, December 2003; Innovation, Integration and Deployment, EARNEST Summary Report, Proposal Part B 4 / 34

5 exploited by NRENs at national level, through the facilitation of exchanges and transfers of those services across European countries. To achieve its general goal of coordinating and promoting the service provision and forming a European internal service market between the European NRENs and other commercial and industry partners, the project will conduct a Coordination Action (CA) that will focus on the following key objectives: To form a better and more thorough understanding and analysis of the on-going collaborative NREN service procurement and provisioning activity and policy environment, focusing especially on: current inter-nren service provision activity that is not carried out within the known pan-european framework of TERENA and DANTE, but rather at bilateral level or in small clusters between individual NRENs; services provided with, by or through commercial and industry partners and spin-off companies from NRENs or higher education and research institutes. To identify, bring together and encourage interaction between all the relevant stakeholders; both those willing to provide service to NRENs and the NRENs willing to procure services provided by other NRENs or commercial service providers and industry across the national borders. To promote and widely disseminate all the findings and results of this project to all these parties in order to stimulate the service provision between them. To identify the services or service areas in NRENs service portfolios that would be best candidates or would benefit the most from European level service provision and to promote them for early opportunities exploring the most relevant service candidates as case studies with identified partners. To analyse procurement, contractual and other legal issues related to the provisioning of services (including advanced or pioneering services at precommercial stage and services that are still in development), and to provide an overview of best practices and frameworks in use and available to NRENs. To analyse the business and earning logic models for this kind of collaboration, and to develop best practices for the NREN community. The project will not focus on any specific regional area, but aims instead to benefit all the European NRENs (and through them the whole European research and higher education community) with a strong focus on dissemination and on getting all the possible stakeholders in touch with each other, in order to enable the development of an internal European market on inter-nren service provision. The project concentrates on the provision of general ISP services on top of the network layer, middleware services and other kinds of services supporting research and education. Examples might include services in the fields of video conferencing and distribution, virtualised networked storage, anti-spam, registration authority (RA) for certificate services, as well as services at the stable phase or closer to the end of their life cycle like USENET news and mailing list services. The project excludes and does not investigate the provision of cross-border or backbone network links or connectivity, since there are already several established European and international initiatives and organisations dealing with those issues, including for example Dante, GN3 EU project and NORDUnet. It also excludes the services that are already being centrally provided for all NRENs in Europe by e.g. TERENA and DANTE, since those services are already well established and coordinated. Proposal Part B 5 / 34

6 The objectives and activities of the project have received some but too little attention and even less concrete effort so far. Yet, they are crucial if we are to develop and maximise the benefits provided by NRENs to the research and higher education community in the most cost-effective and productive way Contribution to the co-ordination of high quality research The project will actively contribute to the coordination of high quality research by promoting a coordinated approach for the provision of advanced network services to the research community across European countries. Since 2006, NRENs in Europe have had two consecutive Task Forces, coordinated by the Trans-European Research and Education Networks Association (TERENA), to promote collaboration on service portfolio management2. Although these Task Forces have provided an excellent opportunity for NRENs to share their knowledge and experience on product management, the need to invest more effort to take this good work one step further, focusing on the coordination of service provision, is now widely acknowledged by the community. In this respect, the project seeks to complement and support the TERENA Task Force, by focusing on a specific area that requires particular attention: the provision of services between European NRENs. TERENA offers its support for this proposal and offers a platform to the project for close collaboration with the Task Force initiative on service portfolio management (see Appendix 1: the Letter of Support from TERENA). In recent years, we have seen some new trends emerging and disrupting the traditional paradigm of nationally focused service provisioning among the NREN community. These developments push for a better coordination of NRENs activities in some specific areas, especially in the area of service provision. The NRENs have set up centralised European wide services on specific areas. These have been mostly developed under the TERENA framework or in the various EU GÉANT projects, and are now being provided by either TERENA or DANTE with the support of individual NRENs. Most of these services, however, still need a significant national effort or component by NRENs in order to be provided all the way through to the national customers in the higher education communities. If coordinated properly, some of these national level service components could well be shared between a number of NRENs, even if such would be unfeasible on European scale. The organisations providing the central service might provide the market place for this kind of sharing. The NRENs have started to outsource or procure the more established services from the commercial sector. There has also been closer collaboration with both the academia and/or the industry on service development, and productisation on more pre-commercial base for advanced or pioneering network services to support research and education. With better coordination, this development could be extended beyond national boundaries for inter-nren collaboration with each other and the third parties. This would have the additional benefit of providing new opportunities, especially for small and medium enterprises, for extending their business internationally. Finally, there have been several cases in various countries where service development collaboration with universities or other NREN customers has resulted in the formation of spin-off companies that have been able to productise and commercialise services needed by and provided to NRENs. Coordination would bring here the same kind of benefits as with other kinds of commercial partners (see the point above), with the additional advantage of these spin-off companies already being very well integrated and knowledgeable of the requirements and special features of academic community and the NRENs. 2 The TERENA Task Force on Life Cycle and Portfolio Management (TF-LCPM) and the TERENA Task Force on Management of Service Portfolios (TF-MSP) Proposal Part B 6 / 34

7 The co-ordination activities proposed by the project (and described in detail in the Work Packages presentation) will have a direct positive impact on European NRENs. The expected outcomes and advantages directly imputable to the project are the following: Coordinated development of an 'EU Internal Market' for advanced research and education network services Strengthening and speeding up of the process from innovations to production Cost effectiveness from the larger scale in service development and provision Knowledge and skills transfer Strengthening of 'the case for NRENs' and support for the evolution path for NREN service portfolios Possibility for closer three-way collaboration with NRENs, NREN customers and commercial service providers across Europe Possibility for supporting emerging new spin-off companies. The coordinated development of an EU Internal Market for the types of services provided by NRENs will undoubtedly increase opportunities for NRENs and third contracting parties enabling them to develop their activities. In addition, the development of the market place will create a favourable environment and new business opportunities for SMEs belonging to the field, which will in turn reinforce the overall impact and benefits of networking activities. NRENs experts have emphasised the strong need to support the deployment and use of good-quality network related services that are useful for research and education 3. The project will help achieve this objective by facilitating the spread across Europe of the best services that are today available but too often exploited only at the national level. In addition, it will increase the cost effectiveness of the services, through larger production scales and better sharing of services and skills. The expected benefits of the project go even beyond the direct impact on NRENs. Having stronger NRENs and a better access to the best services available will benefit the whole European research and education community. NRENs are a major source of innovation, and provide fast and widespread technology transfer to society and industry 4. The facilitation of service exchanges across Europe shall have a boosting effect on this technology transfer process, by increasing the quality of the products available Quality and effectiveness of the coordination mechanisms and associated workpackages The activities conducted within the project are shared between the different partners, and have been divided into five different work packages: Project Management (WP1), Dissemination and Outreach (WP2), NREN International Services Survey and Analysis (WP3), Services Procurement and Contractual Issues (WP4), and Business models and policy environment (WP5). The Project Management Work Package (WP1) will be responsible for the efficient management and coordination of the overall project. It will ensure that the work assigned to the different work package teams progresses according to schedule, and within the allocated budget. The dissemination and outreach activities (WP2) will make sure that the results of the project are widely and efficiently disseminated to the targeted audiences. It will organise the web presence, produce materials, and support the organisation of workshops to best disseminate the activities and results of the project. WP3 will focus its efforts in carrying out a pan-european survey and analysis on NRENs provision of services at the European level. Based on the results of this survey it will identify the most active services and 3 TERENA, EARNEST Summary Report, 2008, Recommendation # 4 4 TERENA, SERENATE Summary Report, 2003, p. 6 Proposal Part B 7 / 34

8 service areas on the European market, and will conduct a more in-depth study of some particularly interesting cases. WP4 will examine, for its part, the legal framework issues related to the provision of services outside national boundaries, focusing especially on procurement and contractual issues. It will also provide skeleton agreements and draft contracts for NRENs use, as well as concrete examples of what is currently done and what problems need to be solved. WP5 will be more directly policy-oriented with a focus on policy and business issues. WP5 will study the different funding models in use and available to NRENs within their own business environment. It will sketch a framework enabling the NRENs to better co-operate and to procure services internationally in the most effective way. The following figure describes the organisation of the work in the project, and shows how the work in WP3, WP4 and WP5 is organised in a similar manner, focusing on study, case-analysis, and interaction actions: Figure 1: The " Matrix" General organisation of the work in the project Although focusing on a specific task, each work package is also closely connected to the others, and to the project as a whole. WP3, WP4 and WP5 will work in tight collaboration to prepare the NREN International service survey. While WP3 will be responsible for the conduct of the survey and its general analysis, WP4 and WP5 will be responsible for drafting the part relevant to their focus. WP4 will build on the results of the survey to enrich its exploration of procurement and contractual issues. WP5 will also benefit from the survey, and from the work carried out within WP4. It will build on the key inputs received from these two Work Packages. Proposal Part B 8 / 34

9 The following figure tries to represent the information flow between the different Work Packages of the project: Figure 2: The Double Ring Main information and data flows between the different Work Packages within the project WP1 will supervise the general progression of the project, while WP2 will be in charge of disseminating its contents and results. Two workshops are planned during the project. Their aim is to disseminate the results of the project, and to facilitate the interaction and coordination between the different NRENs on service provision. WP3 will be responsible for the first and WP5 for the second. WP2 will support the organisation of these two workshops. Proposal Part B 9 / 34

10 Work package list Work package No 5 Work package title Type of activity 6 Lead partic no. 7 Lead partic. short name Personmonths 8 Start mont h 9 End month 9 WP1 Management MGT 1 CSC WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 Dissemination and Outreach NREN International services and analysis Service procurement and contractual issues Business models and policy environment COORD 1 CSC COORD 4 SURFnet COORD 3 HEAnet COORD 2 UNINETT Table 1: Work package list TOTAL Workpackage number: WP 1 WP n. Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Number of the participant leading the work in this work package. The total number of person-months allocated to each work package. Measured in months from the project start date (month 1). Proposal Part B 10 / 34

11 List of Deliverables Del. no. 10 Deliverable name WP no. Nature 11 Dissemination level 12 D2.1 Dissemination and Outreach Plan WP2 R PU M3 D3.1 NREN Survey document and material WP3 R PU M4 D2.2 Dissemination package and website WP2 R PU M6 D3.2 Workshop on survey results WP3 O PU M9 D4.1 Report on legal issues in EU research area: procurement and contractual issues D5.1 Prerequisites of inter-nren service delivering WP4 R PP M9 WP5 R PP M9 Delivery date 13 (proj. month) D1.1 First Annual Project Progress Report WP1 R PU M12 D2.3 First Annual Dissemination Report WP2 R PU M12 D3.3 NREN Survey analysis WP3 R PP M12 D4.2 Agreement Cook book WP4 R PP M15 D5.2 Role of commercial third parties in the provision of services for European NRENs WP5 R PP M15 D5.3 Framework of internal market WP5 R PP M18 D5.4 Workshop on business models and policy environment WP5 O PU M18 D1.2 Final Project Report WP1 R PU M24 D2.4 Final Dissemination Report WP2 R PU M24 D3.4 Final Report on Services WP3 R PU M24 Table 2: List of deliverables 10 Deliverable numbers in order of delivery dates. Please use the numbering convention <WP number>.<number of deliverable within that WP>. For example, deliverable 4.2 would be the second deliverable from work package Please indicate the nature of the deliverable using one of the following codes: R = Report, P = Prototype, D = Demonstrator, O = Other 12 Please indicate the dissemination level using one of the following codes: PU = Public PP = Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services). RE = Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services). CO = Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services). 13 Measured in months from the project start date (month 1). Proposal Part B 11 / 34

12 Milestones Milestone number Milestone name M1.1 Set-Up of the Management Structure Completed Work package(s) involved Expected date 14 Means of verification 15 WP1 M2 First project meeting held M2.1 Web Presence Established WP2 M3 The public web site for the project available M3.1 Survey distributed to NRENs WP3 M5 Survey distributed to NRENs M3.2 Workshop on survey results WP3 M9 Workshop held M1.2 First annual review successfully completed WP1 M12 Review successfully completed M4.1 Cook book release WP4 M15 Cook book released M5.1 Release of report on the role of commercial third parties (D5.3) M5.2 Workshop on business models and policy environment WP5 M15 D5.3 published WP5 M18 Workshop held M1.3 Final review successfully completed WP1 M24 Final review successfully completed Table 3: List of milestones 14 Measured in months from the project start date (month 1). 15 Show how you will confirm that the milestone has been attained. Refer to indicators if appropriate. For example: a laboratory prototype completed and running flawlessly; software released and validated by a user group; field survey complete and data quality validated. Proposal Part B 12 / 34

13 Work package 1 description: Work package number 1 Start date or starting event: M1 Work package title Management Activity type 16 MGT (Management of the consortium) Participant number 1 Participant short name CSC Person-months per 4 participant Objectives Target- and result-oriented, efficient management of the project. Description of work Task 1.1: Management The management of the project and the definition of priorities and goals for the project are the responsibility of the Project Management Board and its chairperson as described in Section 2.1. The day to day operation and the implementation of the goals defined by the Project Management Board will be headed by a designated experienced Project Manager (PM) located with the Coordinator and supported by the administrative and financial functions of the Coordinator. The PM will ensure that the work assigned to the different work package teams will progress according to schedule and within the allocated budget. The progress will be monitored on a bi-annual basis in conjunction with the meetings of the Management Board. Exceptional conditions or problems will be handled by the Management Board, including risk assessment and mitigation to ensure rapid resolution or corrective actions, if necessary, together with the Commission. Internal Communication: The PM will setup and maintain a collaborative workspace system (e.g. Wiki) for the secure exchange of project information, project results, deliverables, meeting minutes, etc. in order to enable easy and timely inter-project communication, in addition to mailing lists. Video and teleconferencing will be used for biweekly project meetings. The PM will organise bi-annual project face-to-face meetings including the Management Board and support meetings by the WP-Teams when required. Project face-toface meetings will be held at a partner site or in conjunction with one of the workshops organised by the project. Quality Control: Project results and formal deliverables will undergo a quality control process of project internal verification and document reviews prior to their timely submission to the European Commission. One to two internal reviewers will be assigned to review documents prior to approval by the Management Board and submission to the EC. Financial Management: The financial status reflecting actual vs. planned effort and actual vs. planned expenditures will be maintained within the project on a bi-annual basis internally and financial reports will be submitted to the commission as required. 16 Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Proposal Part B 13 / 34

14 Communication with the Commission: The Project Manager will be in close cooperation with all project partners and with the EC project officer to ensure smooth fulfilment of the contractual obligations towards the EC. Annual management reports will be prepared and included in the periodic reports and submitted to the Commission. The PM will be responsible for the submission of the formal deliverables as defined by the contract. The PM will prepare and organise the annual project reviews. The details of the management structure are given in 2.1. Deliverables (brief description) and month of delivery D1.1 First Annual Project Progress Report (M12) First annual project progress report including the annual technical and management reports D1.2 Final Project Report (M24) Final public report of the project as required by the contract Milestones M1.1 Set-Up of the Management Structure Completed (M2) M1.2 First annual review successfully completed (M12) M1.3 Final review successfully completed (M24) Proposal Part B 14 / 34

15 Work package 2 description: Work package number 2 Start date or starting event: 1 Work package title Dissemination and Outreach Activity type 17 COORD Participant number 1 Participant short name CSC Person-months per 5 participant Objectives Web presence and management of the website Dissemination of project results Support for the organisation of events Description of work Task 2.1 Web Presence WP2 will develop an effective web presence in order to disseminate the activities. The website will contain the mission, resources, and services, including key material and documentation relevant to the project. The website will also provide news, press releases and relevant articles, with the possibility for readers to be kept up to date on the website contents via an RSS-feed system. Agendas and detailed information about the workshops will be available on the website, and registrations for the project's workshops will also be made possible directly via the website. Task 2.2 Dissemination of project results WP2 will prepare the dissemination and outreach plan for the project. This plan will list the main audiences and dissemination channels for the project. It will include a detailed description of the project's events and other dissemination activities. A dissemination package for the project will also be prepared. It will contain different kinds of dissemination material (leaflets, flyers, etc.) that will be distributed to project partners and to the public during events, in order to promote the activities of the project, and to help it achieve its goals. Task 2.3: Support for workshops and other events WP2 will actively contribute to the organisation of the workshops and events aimed at bringing together the key National Research and Education Network (NREN) partners in Europe. WP 3 and 5 will develop the contents of the workshops, and WP2 will handle the logistics and practical arrangements of the events. WP2 will also monitor the success of the workshops through questionnaires distributed to the participants of the workshops; it will report on the results on the website of the project for timely dissemination, and record 17 Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Proposal Part B 15 / 34

16 the description in the annual dissemination reports (D2.3 and D2.4). Deliverables (brief description) and month of delivery D2.1 Dissemination and Outreach Plan (M3) Detailed description of the planned dissemination activities D2.2 Dissemination package and website (M6) Description of the public website of the project and of the existing and coming dissemination materials D2.3 First Annual Dissemination Report (M12) Description of the dissemination activities of the project, including workshops organised during the first project year D2.4 Final Dissemination Report (M24) Final report on the dissemination activities of the project, including workshops. Milestones M2.1 Web Presence Established (M3) Proposal Part B 16 / 34

17 Work package 3 description: Work package number 3 Start date or starting event: M1 Work package title NREN International services and analysis Activity type 18 COORD Participant number Participant short name CSC UNINETT HEAnet SURFnet Person-months per participant Objectives Getting knowledge and updated status of current NREN activities Identifying fruitful services for European NREN markets Coordinating and supporting initial phase of NREN service exchange Description of work Task 3.1 Getting knowledge and updated status of current NREN activities WP3 will map the current situation of European NRENs, focusing especially on current service portfolios, business models and potential services for international use. Different methods for providing services will also be investigated in order to identify new ways to fulfil user needs. In particular, WP3 will organise a large-scale survey among NRENs, in order to get a general and accurate view of the situation of NRENs regarding the provision of services, and to identify their demands and needs The analysis of the survey results will offer key information for understanding the current landscape of the field and its trends Task 3.2 Identifying fruitful services for European NREN markets WP3 will locate and examine the most fruitful service candidates and service areas for European NREN markets. The main interest here is to identify the areas where cooperation exists, but also those where such cooperation would be particularly beneficial to the whole research and education community. NRENs face demands for high quality communication services, e.g. video services, collaboration services and e-reseach services. In addition, some areas, such as the securing of communication networks and end user security, require increased attention. There is no shortage of other examples of services where cooperation is of crucial importance: storage, anti-spam and virus services, registration authority (RA) and certificate services are some of the most promising areas. Finally, there is a set of services (such as the current service base) which are approaching the end of their life cycle, and are therefore suitable candidates for cooperation. Examples of these are USENET news and mailing list services. WP3 will address these specific cases in two ways: through the general survey on service provision, and through more in-depth case-studies and identified pre-production pilots during the second year of the project. WP3 will explore different possibilities for the provision of international services using existing service portfolios of NRENs. WP3 will also evaluate and report on the strengths and weaknesses of these possibilities when identified. The current service base offers a natural starting example for analysis, as the services are well-defined and they have well-known technical and administrative structure. 18 Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Proposal Part B 17 / 34

18 Task 3.3 Coordinating and supporting initial phase of NREN service exchange WP3 will facilitate the interaction between relevant partners, and especially between service providers and service users. The survey, the case-studies and gathered experience on pilots will help locate fruitful cooperation opportunities, and WP3 will examine concrete measures to bring together interested and competent parties, and to promote trust in cooperation. WP3 will organise a specific workshop to discuss the survey results and to initiate new collaboration activities. It will also examine and try to establish appropriate and reliable tools for the development of discussions and future partnerships. Deliverables (brief description) and month of delivery D3.1 NREN Survey document and material (M4) Information package on survey for the target group D3.2 Workshop on survey results (M9) The workshop will discuss the outcome of the survey results D3.3 NREN survey analysis (M12) This is the summary of the survey results. It contains preliminary analysis of the collected data. Trends can be identified for further investigation D3.4 Final Report on Services (M24) This report summarises and discusses the information gathered through the case-studies, and the coordination activities. Milestones M3.1 Survey distributed to NRENs (M5) M3.2 Workshop on survey results (M9) Proposal Part B 18 / 34

19 Work package 4 description: Work package number 4 Start date or starting event: 1 Work package title Service procurement and contractual issues Activity type 19 COORD Participant number 2 3 Participant short name UNINETT HEAnet Person-months per participant 3 6 Objectives Understanding of European legal framework and the boundaries for activities Investigation of procurement and contractual issues Providing suitable and feasible agreement models Description of work Task 4.1 Understanding the European legal framework and the boundaries for activities National and EU legislation form the basic legal framework for NREN activities. They enable, but also limit the services that can be offered. WP4 will study the legal aspects in the participating countries concerning NRENs activities and especially the provision of services. WP4 will ensure that work and activities relevant to the project are compatible with, and conducted according to the laws. Potential legal pitfalls will be identified, examined, and reported. By assisting and monitoring the work in progress, WP4 will gather important information on practical problems NRENs face. The current activity in the international NREN service area is a sign of concrete demand and supply. European NRENs have slightly different areas of excellence, which justifies partnerships. Task 4.2 Investigating procurement and contractual issues The public procurement process is regulated. This means that the process must be done strictly and accurately. The extension of the view to the European level requires special treatment as the number of national exceptions increase. The contract models differ from a service type to another. Depending on the case, e.g. bilateral, multilateral or mixed models must be used. The effecting appliance of the agreements is based on understanding the whole process. WP4 will investigate the procurement and contractual issues. The work will expose the functional and unusable ways. The results found will be presented in the work package deliverables. Task 4.3 Providing suitable and feasible agreement models To help NRENs offer services across Europe, WP4 will produce skeleton agreements and draft contracts. This work will include considering suitable SLAs (Service Level Agreements), help desk functions and service monitoring arrangements. This work will speed up the actual service delivery process e.g. between provider-nren and customer-nren. There are also other types of service delivery scenarios, which are covered. 19 Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Proposal Part B 19 / 34

20 As WP4 collects information and best practices on the ongoing efforts in the European NREN scene, it will disseminate the information the providers, when appropriate. The service negotiations in question may fit to other NRENs as well. The expansion of user base will help to mature the service and increase cost effectiveness. In the end, the evolution of innovative services benefits all NRENs. Deliverables (brief description) and month of delivery D4.1 Report on legal issues in EU research area: procurement and contractual issues (M9) This report will analyse the main legal issues related to the provision of services outside national boundaries, focusing especially on procurement and contractual issues. D4.2 Agreement cook book (M15) This document is a collection of skeleton agreements and their applications instructions and scenarios Milestones M4.1 Cook book release (M15) Proposal Part B 20 / 34

21 Work package 5 description: Work package number 5 Start date or starting event: 1 Work package title Business models and policy environment Activity type 20 COORD Participant number Participant short name CSC UNINETT SURFnet Person-months per participant Objectives Identifying the economical and policy landscape for inter-nren service delivering Understanding the role of commercial companies Finding suitable NREN service models Description of work Task 5.1 Identifying the economical and policy landscape for inter-nren service delivering WP5 aims to find the economical and policy key issues which prevent the European service delivery to increase. The NRENs are bound by budgetary facts and their national charters. The international cooperation may produce overall savings and other benefits, but these are not clear in every case. WP5 will study the cost coverage and funding models in several collaboration scenarios. WP5 points out the models which the NRENs can accept in their current situation. The innovative approach includes new models for delivering the service. The European co-operation gives a possibility to deliver services available in one NREN or one nation to all other partners. Task 5.2 Understanding the role of commercial third parties The services mature enough can also be considered to be procured from the commercial third parties. The NRENs have a lot of procurement competence in their own countries, but the international attempts have been rare. In some cases, where some technology is widely in use in the academic world, the spin-off model could be useful for fulfilling the NREN needs and supporting the whole information society. Other innovative ways to co-operate with commercial companies in service delivery will also be sought out and studied. In the service delivery process cost effectiveness usually equals to short delivery chains. Three-way collaboration between NRENs, the customers of the NRENs and commercial subcontractors may create extremely complex structures where the quality of the service may suffer or its usage become expensive. WP5 will explore delivery processes in which delivery chains are kept in a proper level for mutual benefit. Task 5.3 Finding suitable NREN service models An important issue related to European service delivery is to find a decision making process to which the NRENs can participate. This enables the NRENs to find out the available services, discuss and determine their resolution and take measures. WP5 will sketch a model where the roles and tasks for different parties 20 Please indicate one activity per work package: COORD = Coordination activities; MGT = Management of the consortium Proposal Part B 21 / 34

22 can be found. The WP5 will compose and suggest a framework which would allow the NRENs to co-operate and procure services in as simple and effective way as possible. WP5 will establish a basis where the NRENs could have direct and easily measured benefits from the co-operation, and distribute the work internationally. To achieve this WP5 will analyse the different models of mandates, statutes and policies that are in use at NRENs across Europe. Based on the WP3 survey, innovative business models and earning logics will be examined and best practises identified. It is largely accepted that modern business models are dynamic constructs that evolve with the operating ecosystem. Thus, the focus here is to create mutual frameworks for business models, illustrating the key issues that need to be taken into account. There is special focus on the unit of exchange. Between NRENs the unit of exchange can vary from bartering to money. WP5 will present the results of its work is the second main workshop of the project. Deliverables (brief description) and month of delivery D5.1 Prerequisites of inter-nren service delivering (M9) This document discusses the economical and policy conditions for successful service delivery in the European scene. D5.2 Role of commercial third parties in the provision of services for European NRENs (M15) This document highlights the different roles that commercial third parties may have in the production and delivery of services. D5.3 Framework of internal market (M18) This document summarizes the work of the WP5. It suggests and discusses framework models suitable for NREN use. D5.4 Workshop on business models and policy environment (M18) The workshop will focus on the role of commercial third parties and suitable NREN service models Milestones M5.1 Release of report on the role of commercial third parties (D5.2) (M15) M5.2 Workshop on business models and policy environment (M18) Proposal Part B 22 / 34

23 Summary of effort Partic. no. Partic. short name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 Total person months 1 CSC UNINETT HEAnet SURFnet Total 45 Table 4: Summary of effort Figure 3: GANTT Chart Proposal Part B 23 / 34

24 Risk analysis All project partners are large organisations with long experience of project management and operation. Therefore the management of risks such as lack of personnel, problem with facilities and equipment, and general contingency plans are handled by the relevant organisation s human resource and administrative departments on a regular basis, and are thus considered to be of minimal probability to affect the progress of the project. The following table provides a description of the other main risks anticipated for the project, and an estimation of their likelihood of occurrence based on the following scale of impact: Very Low (0, 10%) Low (10, 30%) Moderate (30, 50%) High (50, 70%) Very high (70, 90%). The project team will cautiously plan its actions to mitigate their likelihood of occurrence. It should also be noted that the occurrence of one of the below mentioned problem will not necessarily affect the overall progress of the project (a degree of severity is also provided in the table). In case some of the following problems occur, the partners involved in the project will make sure that everything is done to limit their potential negative impact on the project. Risk Answers to the NREN survey lower than expected Participation in the workshops is lower than expected Not enough community support for being able to identify and contact the majority of relevant stakeholders that would benefit from this coordination action Identified commercial third parties are unwilling to provide enough details for an analysis of business models on that sector Project lacks the time and resources to translate detailed NREN policies, business plans and other documents written in several different languages. The NREN mandate, policy and national legislation differences are too large to write skeleton agreements and general business models Table 5: Risk table Likelihood Low Low Low Medium Medium Low Mitigation Severity: 1 (not severe) 5 (severe) Effective and regular contacts with NRENs by all partners to ensure that NRENs answer the survey. Effective dissemination early enough and personal contacts to attract participants. Organisation of the workshop during larger and well-know events (such as TERENA Networking Conference) Using the well established networks among NRENs for dissemination and for conduction the survey Close contacts with NREN partners of commercial parties in order to invoke trust and get an inside view. Work closely with NRENs to get help in understanding the main points in question. Identifying and analysing closely the major showstoppers and thus help when these issues will be confronted in practise Proposal Part B 24 / 34

25 2. Implementation 2.1. Management structure and procedures The management structure of the project although being relatively light, ensures efficient management of the project and awareness of responsibilities of all the work packages and their tasks. The project management consists of three bodies: Project Management Board (PMB) Project Manager (PM) Work Package Leaders (WPL) The Project Management Board (PMB) consists of one representative per partner. The representatives in the PMB must be high level executives in order that they can represent their organisations in all matters concerning the project. The PMB member representing the coordinating organisation is also the chair of the PMB. The PMB supervises the progress of the project and takes the overall responsibility of the project. The PMB meets at least twice a year and gives the strategic directions to the project and makes the contractual decisions of the reallocation of the resources. Partners should ensure to be represented in all PMB meetings; they are entitled to appoint alternates to the designated representative. The PMB is also responsible for the conflict resolution and the risk management activities. The Project Manager (PM) will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project. The PM is also the leader of WP1. The PM will be the main interface between the Consortium and the European Commission and is responsible for directing the communication between the work packages and the Project Management Board. The Project Manager is supported by the experienced administrative and financial staff of the Coordinator. The group of Work Package Leaders (WPL) is responsible for timely and complete realisation of the tasks in their work packages. The WPL reports the progress to the PMB. The WPL is headed by the PM. The Work Package Leaders have a telephone or video conference at least every second week. Project Management Board Project Manager Work Package Leaders Figure 4: Project Management Structure Proposal Part B 25 / 34

26 Communication within the project Effective communication within the project is emphasised. All partners will be kept fully informed on the project status and planning in order to obtain effective and transparent progress of the work and increase synergies of cooperation. The information flow between all actors will take place through a proven collaborative website (Wiki); this environment will serve as the project intranet. The PMB has face-to-face meetings at least twice a year and will use telephone or video conferencing for rapid consultations and decisions between meetings if required. The WPL has a telephone or video conference at least every second week. Project meetings including all project partners will be held at least twice a year. Rules of voting The Project Management Board will aim to reach decisions by consensus among all partners. For important decisions a simple majority of the PMB is required. Decisions may be taken during face-to-face meeting of the Project Management Board, or during video or telephone conferences. They have to be duly recorded. Decisions may be taken via . Details will be defined in the Consortium Agreement Individual participants CSC Tieteen tietotekniikan keskus Oy CSC IT Center for Science Ltd is a government owned company in Finland, operating on a non-profit principle. It is administered by the Ministry of Education. CSC is the largest national center supporting research and education in Northern Europe with a staff exceeding 170 (2009). CSC provides high performance computing, modelling, software development, information and data management services for academia, research institutes, public sector and industry. CSC has a wide selection of scientific software and databases and runs the most powerful supercomputers. CSC also operates Funet, the Finnish Research and Education Network. Funet is a reliable high performance data communication network serving the Finnish research community. It connects more than 80 universities and research institutes and users. Funet is one of the most advanced research networks in the world providing both network connectivity and world class network services on e.g. authentication, videoconferencing and network security to support science. Funet is a member of NORDUnet network collaboration in Northern European countries which provides access to all international services and links to global research networks, such as the pan-european Géant2. Key personnel Dr Kimmo Koski started in his current position as Managing Director of the Finnish IT Center for science, CSC, in August Prior to his present position, Koski spent 4.5 years at the Nokia Research Center and Nokia Technology Platform, where he was responsible for various management tasks for both the Center's and the Platform's global IT services. Earlier work experience includes 10 years at CSC in various positions, most of the time as the manager of the operational computing environment, and a one-year visiting period in CERN in Switzerland. Koski received his doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology in January Proposal Part B 26 / 34