Ruđer Bošković InstituteComputing Center

Business plan 2003-2004

author:dr. sc. Karolj Skala Head of IRB Computing Centre

consultant:dr. sc. Michael SurridgeSouthampton University, IT Innovation Centre

Table of contents:

1 MISSION............................................................................................................................4

2 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................4

3 STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS...........................................................4

4 BACKGROUND...............................................................................................................6

4.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT OPERATIONS................................................................................64.1.1 Orientation, principal activities and decision-making process..............................64.1.2 Funds for major project..........................................................................................64.1.3 Evaluation of the building facilities and equipment...............................................74.1.4 Objectives................................................................................................................7

5 MARKET AND PRICING...............................................................................................8

5.1 SCOPE THE INDUSTRY STRUCTURE AND CAPABILITY......................................................85.1.1 Relevant technical problems...................................................................................85.1.2 Major economic impacts.........................................................................................85.1.3 Competitive comparation........................................................................................95.1.4 Pricing the products/services..................................................................................9

5.2 SWOT ANALYSIS............................................................................................................95.3 MAJOR ISSUES AND PRIORITIES....................................................................................10

5.3.1 Key areas where improvement is desired.............................................................105.3.2 Priorities hierarchy...............................................................................................105.3.3 Nature of interaction with industry.......................................................................115.3.4 Assessment of the key areas for investment..........................................................11

5.4 HUMAN RESOURCES......................................................................................................115.4.1 Allocation the resources.......................................................................................125.4.2 Upgrading the human resources...........................................................................12

5.5 FIVE YEARS STRATEGY..................................................................................................13

6 INVESTMENT PROGRAM..........................................................................................14

6.1 JUSTIFICATION FOR INVESTMENT PROGRAM.................................................................146.2 DESCRIPTION OF INVESTMENT PROGRAMS....................................................................146.3 MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS UPGRADING...........................................................................146.4 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT..............................................................................146.5 MARKETING ORGANIZATION.........................................................................................146.6 NEW ACTIVITIES, BASED ON MARKET ANALYSIS...........................................................15

7 FINANCIAL PLAN........................................................................................................16

7.1 IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS............................................................................................167.2 INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS AND ANALYSIS...............................................................16

8 RISK ANALYSIS...........................................................................................................17

8.1 MARKET RISKS..............................................................................................................178.2 RESOURCE AVAILABILITY..............................................................................................178.3 TECHNOLOGY RISKS......................................................................................................178.4 GOVERNMENT RELATED RISKS......................................................................................178.5 RISK MINIMIZATION.......................................................................................................17

9 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM................................18

9.1 WEB/MIS/KM IN SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE.....................................................................18

9.1.1 Knowledge Management Reference......................................................................189.1.2 Elements of Knowledge Management Technology...............................................189.1.3 Knowledge management structure........................................................................19

9.2 BASIC PRINCIPLES..........................................................................................................219.3 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS..........................................................................................21

9.3.1 Open Source Software...........................................................................................219.3.2 Web Interface........................................................................................................229.3.3 Modular structure.................................................................................................229.3.4 Integrated system..................................................................................................22

9.4 KNOW-HOW ACTION PLAN...........................................................................................229.4.1 Web portal.............................................................................................................229.4.2 Management Information System.........................................................................239.4.3 Required resources...............................................................................................23

9.5 KM INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS.................................................................................23

10 APPENDIX......................................................................................................................23

10.1 CONSULTANT AGREEMENT PROPOSAL..........................................................................2310.2 MODULAR CONCEPT AND THE PLAN OF THE NEW BUILDING........................................23

Mission

Transformation of the Computer Center to Center for Computing and Information Technologies with the goal to give the highest ICT support to fundamental scientific and R&D work in Ruđer Bošković Institute, research at the new e-Science technologies, development of cluster grid computing, knowledge management information system (Web & MIS) implementation and market orientation activities which include the product and know-how transfer about the cluster grid computing and knowledge management technology to the open market.

Introduction

The Institute's Computer Center is a small service unit. Its rate of progresses having differed from that of the profession, it currently represents a bottleneck in servicing the scientists with computer and data processing resources. Stagnation in the development of infrastructure, equipment and services of the Institute’s Computer Center is the cause of poor and slow service and support to scientists in their multidisciplinary work. With respect to its status in the 1990’s, the computer infrastructure of the Institute is relatively lagging behind the other big academic institutions [Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), Faculty of Nature Science and Mathematics (PMF), etc.]. The reason lies in the marginalization of the strategically extremely important infrastructure and the lack of investments with very clearly specified development goals. It is, therefore, indispensable to revitalize the Center in a strategic and planned manner.

The BP proposal is to transform the classical service activities of insufficiently advanced technical level into a scientific and R&D center at the front of information and communication technology (ICT). This will change the valorization of knowledge and services on the market. Such transformation should be one of the Institute’s important strategic orientations with respect to all professions in that it can ensure basic knowledge and requirements for work and introduce new working methods and models into scientific research operations, knowledge generation and knowledge marketability.

Strategy and development trends

Computing and data processing, as generic technologies in the function of the efficient

scientific and economic growth, must play a key role in the global strategic development of the Institute.

Ruđer Bošković Institute has to incorporate this fact into its development strategy. Through the intense development it must upgrade its status, needs and abilities. Dynamic development of novel information technologies generates new creative methodologies in science and economy based on:

globalization (virtual compression of time and space), convergence’s (data-processing, computing, communication and media), compatible integration (technological and functional = e-Science), and digitalization (in all fields of technical science).

As a rule, scientific and academic environments are always among the leaders in

designing contemporary computing and data processing systems and in developing new technologies. These new technologies comprise:

multimedia optical network,

digital libraries, scientific video-conferences, virtual universities, distance scientific work, distributed laboratories, distant control and integration of experiments, distributed parallel computing and scientific databases.

Contemporary scientific research and knowledge-managed market require the use of contemporary leading-edge computing and data-processing technologies. Therefore, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional work on global level must rely on the latest computing and data-processing technologies to be generated within the Grid system. Grid is a new computing/network technology. In addition to data and information transmission, it also identifies the resources and is a distributed system for linking various working stations, cluster computers, data/knowledge base, intelligent instrumentation, virtual laboratories, etc. with fast optical network to create a new virtual work environment with the possibility of parallel processing, which would provide a significant increase of the computing and creative power on the national and global levels. New possibilities of rendering national virtual supercomputer services to all scientific and economic subjects in the country are being recognized. Networking with international Grid networks provides the connection on the national level and the opportunity for the infrastructure to develop concomitantly with other countries. New cooperative and creative technologies are introduced through virtual laboratories and tele-presence. Scientific projects (experiments) can be managed in a new manner, and the conditions to facilitate development through knowledge-managed economy and society are being created. The benefits must be pointed out in terms of facilitating and adopting global generic technologies, developing local human resources and knowledge, and creating preconditions for the integration into the international Grid network. If it fails to do so, Croatia will inevitably fall behind in science and economy given the fact that the criteria for top results are nowadays based on the application of supercomputers, and in the future on Grid technologies. Hence, Grid has a double role: dissemination of cheap cluster supercomputer technology on one hand, and on the other hand R&D in Grid technologies aimed at developing a functional Grid system that will enable our technological integration with developed countries. Therefore, rapid approach to the World Wide Grid is a fundamental generic strategy for the development of data-processing in the Institute, as well as Croatia.

Background The Institute is as old as contemporary computing. Over that period we have been the leaders in implementation of the novel first rate technologies. The first PDP 8 computer in Croatia was installed at IRB in 1965. C9040 computer (French version of Xerox SIGMA 7) had been at IRB before it was re-installed at SRCE (currently an exhibit of the Technical Museum). The first laser transmission of digital data through the atmosphere was achieved between IRB and FER in 1979. CARNet was born at the Institute in that the first network services (e-mail, ftp, etc.) were adopted there first, mostly resembling network communications at CERN and at other leading world institutions. B. Souček, Ph. D. wrote the first book on microprocessors and microcomputers after he had left Ruđer Bošković Institute for the States. The first microprocessor computer systems were developed at the Institute based on Z80 and Intel 48/51. CONVEX, a strategic supercomputer, is installed at IRB. Linux PC Cluster, a new supercomputer in line with global developing trends was recently developed. We are working on several domestic and international Grid projects. IRB has been and must remain at the top of data-processing and computing technologies, which is its developmental imperative. Review of Current Operations

Orientation, principal activities and decision-making process Center for Computer and Information Technologies in realization of Cluster computing, Grid orientation and e-Science arises as one of the strategically important technologies in the area of global computer network system and from the increasing need to apply them in the latest scientific work and the competitive knowledge-managed economy. Development, installation and testing of the cluster computer farms and the disc servers will be carried out at IRB Campus, thus providing all scientists with the access and use of supercomputer resources through the Campus Grid portal server in the future. An integrated computer support will be developed to parallelize program accounting, authentification, statistics, monitoring and security modules. There will be the possibility for linking other resources except the computer clusters: databases, intelligent instruments, virtual laboratories, etc. A farm of cluster computers with the integrated hardware and program for monitoring the computer system will be developed too. The tested middleware program tools, developed and adapted to specific needs of Campus Grid will be implemented. This will create the new environment and efficient scientific work, and a testbed for up-to-date novel methods and generic Grid applications. The service for the application of the state-of-the-art computer science tools for scientific and engineering multidisciplinary and multi-institutional work will be available. The adoption of the Grid technology on the national level will enable the access to EU projects within the sixth frame and to other global Grid systems.

Funds for major project The Center would be funded from the scientific and technological projects and by other market subjects. Cluster computing and Grid technology should be realized through six projects, registered with the Ministry of Science and Technology in the total amount of 5.79 million Kunas with 20 % economy cofinancing.

Table 1: Running project funds

Projects: Funds ($) Years:Optical Local Area Campus Network 475.000 2002-2003Free Space Laser communication link 62.500 2002-2003Cluster monitoring 11.250 2002-2003Campus Grid project 156.250 2003-2004 (under

evaluation)Internal IRB founds 50.000 2002Total: 755 000 $

: As for the human resources, they would be employed on a permanent basis, and would comprise scientists and corresponding professionals. Appropriate professionals for the Center would be outsourced for the projects, when necessary, on a temporary basis. The staff of the new Center for Computing and Information Technologies Center (currently numbering 5) would be increased to 6 (R&D unit) and 8 (service unit). The number of employees would increase over 2 years by re-assignment from other departments of the Institute, re-allocation of jobs after retirement, and recruitment and employment of professionals from the labor market. This would not significantly increase the sum for the wages of the Institute staff. Strategic reallocation of employees would increase the effectiveness of people performing jobs of overall strategic importance.

Evaluation of the building facilities and equipmentTo function, the Computing and data processing Centre must have the investment

program regarding the working space and equipment, i.e. a building with the dedicated equipment is required. It is, therefore, planned to construct an additional part of Science Park building together with Croatian Chiral Industries (CROCHIT, annex to the second pavilion). A building structure with the area of 300 m² at the ground and first floor would cover the needs of the Centre. The planned area would hold 9 specialized rooms, see appendix.

ObjectivesTo accomplish the transformation we intend to reach the following objectives:

1. To obtain the income from industrial users and other users outside of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

2. To increase the number of BSc engineers, MSc and PhD scientists. 3. To host the Center in the Science park building and to invest in the equipment by the

end of 2004.4. Until the end of 2003 to completely develop the cluster computing architecture with

modern cluster computer monitoring system. 5. Until the end 2004 to build up the Grid system.6. To establish continuous communication and marketing action with the customers

(universities/institutes/industry) on cluster and grid computing systems. 7. To visit conferences, exhibitions and other events which contribute to better R&D

collaboration and scientific excellence.

Market and Pricing

Scope the industry structure and capability

In the establishment of the Grid system, two key technologies can be distinguished: Linux cluster technology and software (middleware) support to the grid system. Beowulf clusters and many commercials IBM, Compaq, Dell and other clusters are well known from the distributed computer technology. Current clusters reach up to 30 teraflops/sec at the half price of the equivalent supercomputers. The first program that networks computer resources was Condor (University of Wisconsin), followed by Globus Tool-kit (University of Southern California in LA) and Unicor, Germany. «Ruđer Bošković» Institute has three long term cooperation contracts on transfer of technology know-how in the area of Grid systems: with Ericsson on software support development and Cluster supercomputers, with Hrvatska Elektroprivreda on communication infrastructure and with ELKA on optical transmission media. Planned financial scope of cooperation is 150.000 $ per year.

In the forthcoming 5-year period, the national Grid backbone should be established over CRO GRID between the national university and economic centers. Hardware and software implementation of the cluster computer technology will be developed from the level of a PC as a computing node in a cluster computer system. The Center aims to become a center for expert knowledge and tested infrastructure for advanced Grid systems, applications and services. The planned range of usage includes sequential and parallel program applications. Considerable development is expected here as well as the influence on the modern lifestyle, particularly in respect to science, economy and society. Supply of network resources will become profitable activity, exerting a great impact on the development of market economy and overall society.

Relevant technical problems The key technical problem is to design a compatible and reliable computing data

processing network system able to serve its computing capacity, large memory, databases, 3D visualization, teleimmersion technologies, etc. to all interested scientific and economic subjects, in a simple and efficient way. The Croatia already has a good network infrastructure, but the resources for the cluster computing – both hardware and software (middleware) ones – need to be constructed and installed according to the requirements for the specific application.

Major economic impacts In the five years time Grid system should be spread all over Croatia and cover all

scientific and economic requirements. It is believed that service activities will develop on the basis of Grid systems. At that point commercialization will take place through the portals and through resources supervising and management systems. Market release will be achieved through Grid providers who will be selling the resources on Grid. Computer services and other data processing resources will be allocated off-site in the distributed environment and a middleware program system will be used to monitor and bill the services. In that respect the Institute will be permanently getting its profit, generated from the sale of cluster computer systems, data processing resources and know-how technologies in the appropriate area.

Competitive comparationCroatia is indirectly included in the ongoing EU Grid development trends. Its current

status in Data Grid (CERN) is on the lowest level. Our cooperation with CERN is insufficient and cannot be the basis for the development of national Grid. In this respect we rely on GGF forum and are following technical standards to ensure compliance. To achieve this, we plan to use open-source tools and develop additional modules of our own, using modern network programming languages (C#, Java etc.). We do not foresee any difficulty that might jeopardize the project.

Pricing the products/services One of our projects: “Optimization of Cluster Supercomputer” is aimed at designing CPU-time collection model so as to cover all costs. The accounting model is aimed at parametrizing service valorization within the Grid system. Collection for the use of resources will be carried out by Grid portal where authorization, authentification and service costs entry will be made. All this will be provided by middleware software package.

SWOT analysis

Strengths:

young (29 years on the average), motivated and experienced technical and scientific staff, position on the knowledge and product market, good relations to and commitment by the customers, established network of providers and collaborators,

leading-edge R&D results, hosting in the future IRB Science Park (together with Croatian Chiral Industries), experience in web marketing.

Weaknesses:

inferior working conditions, lack of young computer science engineers, lack of specialized scientists, lack of business management information system and management skills, need for long term investment.

Opportunities:

tested prototype of a cluster computer, very little competition in Croatia, growing needs of customers, long term small production projects based on our own R&D, export possibilities of our products, internationally funded projects.

Threads: high dynamics of development, unpredictable changes of market, lack of budget.

Major Issues and Priorities

Key areas where improvement is desired There are many applications whose computational requirements exceed the resources

available at even the largest supercomputing centers. For these applications, cluster computational grids offer the promise of the access to increased computational capacity through the simultaneous and coordinated use of geographically separated, but networked cluster computers. The proposed Center will develop a cluster computer Grid access portal (interactive interface) for scientific and engineering simulation and modeling resources. This task will focus on development of various toolkits and user interfaces to scientific applications and databases. The set of applications considered includes biomolecular simulations, CAE simulations, structural analysis, etc. Scalar, vector and parallel application codes will be considered.

Priorities hierarchy Priorities must be selected to be relevant to the collective requirements and developmental prospects compliant with strategic principles. Integration, globalization and new working technologies in science are important factors too. The projects' results must generate a long-term secondary effect on the overall development of science and the positive impact on economic growth.

Nature of interaction with industry In addition to scientific applications, Grid technology is exceptionally interesting for commercial application of ICT technology. Growth in e-business and outsourcing require new operability on heterogeneous platforms and in various network environments. High quality

services in dynamic virtual economic environments are equally important as in science and engineering. Economic subjects start introducing Grid system locally, within a corporation, in order to gain high savings on the account of optimal use of the existing resources (Intel Corp). With the support of internal Grid the saving amounts to USD 500 million. This explains the increasing interest in and the trend towards convergence and integration of Grid technology with already initiated development of Web services. This term «web service» is misleading: it does not refer to a web site, browsers or protocols, but rather to an interface for communication with distant processes and, thus, a new Internet generation. Web service tries to bring the companies and customers closer to each other through Internet, with the use of specific software support and standard protocols: XML, SOAP, WDSL and UDDI for description, identification and communication of data through the web. Many commercial companies work intensely on Web service development (e.g. Microsoft with its .NET, IBM Corp with WebSphere and Sun with Java 2 Enterprise Edition). Market-oriented companies started investing and developing Grid applications. Six months ago 12 major companies proclaimed their orientation towards Grid program tools. Major issue is that Web services are mostly written for the Windows platform, whereas Grid is on Linux open source platform. It is reasonably expected that this convergence will finish in a merge, and prove the open source concept as a sound global software orientation. In this context, the orientation towards Linux is undoubtedly a good choice.

Assessment of the key areas for investment Software orientation, technological grounds and human resources have been defined. The

building (part of Science Park) and equipment remain the only investment which is not yet financially covered, and is needed to create the conditions for service development, performance and logistics. Aside from space, computing and data processing, there is still the need for the equipment for dynamic server farms. The planned rate of investment, according to other development factors and requirements, is 12 months for equipment and 18 months for work space facilities.

1.1 Human resources

The Institute has a high level of the best multidisciplinary human resources. In computing, the advantage is given to younger people. Current average age of the Center staff is 29 years. R&D will be systematically employing the experienced scientists from the Institute and the recruits/engineers for software design and programming. Rendering services and cooperation with industry will be on temporary basis. Employee fluctuation should be high, so that the best young people stay in the Center and the others become available for labor market, to vacate their positions for young recruits.

Allocation the resourcesHuman resources are allocated either systematically or planned on the Institute level. At

later stage of cluster computer Grid implementation the existing technical resources, insufficiently engaged at this point, would be engaged more. This will enable all computers at the Institute to be treated as one virtual computer within the Grid system. A limiting factor at this instance is the operating system. Transition to Linux should be gradual.

Upgrading the human resources Young people show interest in distributed computing and Grid program. We already have

the conditions to define our human resources policy. Young recruits are taught Grid technology on the 4th year of computing study and are channeled towards it in their diploma works. Out of five applicants for job vacancy who graduated in computing on Grid technology, we employed two of them already.  Table 1: Human resource plan

HR plan 2003 2004Specification Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

1 existing HR 5

2 R&D engineers 1 1

3 additional programmers 2 2 2

4 system engineers 1 1 1

5 additional webmaster 1

6 service tehn. 1

9 consultants 1 1

Total: 11 2 1 5 1

 

1.2 Five years strategy

Center for Computing and Information Technologies should in 3-year time establish Grid environment, employ the recruits, train the employees and establish technical infrastructure. In the next 2 years sophisticated applications and service activities would be fully established to the level of excellence based on 3C (Computing Communication Collaboration) .

Rate of development is affected by global development results. Its schedule will be determined using Gant and Pert diagram and the project flow-charts. Grid systems have self-administrative capabilities. In other words, a great number of parameters of a system can be monitored in real and delayed time. Monitoring can be technical (measuring all relevant technical parameters) and commercial (number of users, flow, market structure, adaptation and optimization to increase system efficiency). Monitoring and measuring Grid performance will be possible through the portals.

Current computing resources represent a generic development category. Computability is increased by the distributed computing technology. The most efficient way to achieve it is through the development and application of cluster computers under Linux operation system. Our experience in designing and exploitation of cluster computers at Ruđer Bošković Institute suggest the use of new cluster grid networking of idle computing resources. This refers to hardware resources of underused computing classrooms to which clustering technology can be applied easily and usefully. There are plans to install and link computing classrooms into a unique virtual supercomputer for night use (when computing classrooms are not being used) in intense calculation, first in scientific work and subsequently in industry (High Throughput Computing).

Investment Program

Justification for Investment Program

Justification of the program arises from inevitable application of contemporary generic computing information technology in scientific work and economic growth on the national and global levels. All preconditions have been created, except material investments for working areas and equipment. The aim is to achieve the technological excellence with the task to disseminate know-how, apply testbed for sophisticated applications, establish a scientific computing service and perform the function of public service center with particular focus on industry.

Description of investment programs

It is, therefore, planned to construct an additional part of Science Park building together with Croatian Chiral Industries (annex to the second pavilion). A building structure with the area of 180 m² at the ground floor would cover the needs of the Centre fully equipped for work. The planned area would hold 9 specialised rooms. Preliminary design and the frame investment program for this are already available, requiring the investment of 2 000 000 KN for the working area of the Centre. The plan is to cover the investment mostly with the loan from the World Bank.

Management systems upgrading

The management should be up-to-date and dynamic. A proposal has been given for the appropriate amendment of the Institute’s Statute. Vertical subordination and horizontal cooperatives are expected. The Center is managed by the Head of the Center, whereas the department heads are responsible for the execution of tasks. We need to implement the Management Information System.

Human Resource Development

Human resources and HR policy are entirely defined in the above text. Special attention should be paid to dynamic and high-quality work and all rules and principles of HR policy should be created accordingly.

Marketing organization

Center of excellence and the Grid system on the market will have their self-marketing effect. Systematic dissemination of information and marketing data will be achieved through network technology. There will be portal dissemination of information and a network tutoring system, on line help desk and other marketing methods and procedures. We are also planning to implement the content management Web engine.

New activities, based on market analysis

Implementation of Grid system and leading edge-computing services beyond the scientific scope has not been fully defined. Marketing analysis and a detailed study of necessary developments and adjustments must be carried out. In this context we must order a market survey with the economic subjects. Table 2: Main transformation process tasks (2003-2004)

Field of activities Time period 2003 Time period2004

E PROCESSES Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q41 Business plan

X X

2 Organizational plan X X

3 Marketing plan/promotion plan X X X

4 Human resources X X X X X X X X

5 Building (part of IRB Science park) X X X X X

6 Cluster computer (ind. design) X X X X

7 Cluster monitoring system X X X

8 Program implementation X X X X

9 Grid portal development X X X X X X X

10 System and production integration X X X X X

11 Equipment and Quality plan X X

12 Content management WEB and MIS X X X X X X X X

13 Business management model optimalisation X X X X

 

Financial plan

Important assumptions

Growth rate of sales quantities and services can be just roughly estimated. Sales include custom cluster computers, software implementation, installation of

applications, know how, technology transfer, services and outsourcing. In most cases the long-term contracts will form a basis for collaboration. Services have just a minor part in the total income. In most of the contracts the costs of R&D work are being covered during the small

production period.

Investment requirements and analysis

This BP needs an additional investment of 593 000 $for building and other over the next 2 years. We also need to increase the working capital to be able to adapt to the market-oriented work and more intensively on further R&D as well with. The specification is as follows at table 3.

Table 3: Main investment plan (2003-2004)

Type of investment amount ($) remarksBuilding investment 250 000 2003-04Knowledge Management Information system

110 000 2003-04

Testing equipment 78 000 2003Computer equipment 80 000 2003Office equipment 10 000 2003R&D equipment 50 000 2003Consultant 25 000 2003-04Total : 603 000 $

Grant: WB 25 % 150 750 $Reimbursement: MZT sufinancing 35 %, 211 050 $

IRB sufinancing 25 %, 150 750 $Center 15 % 90 450 $

Risk Analysis

Market risks

Implementation and application of generic technology are not subject to direct market risks.

Resource availability

Resources are known and optimized. Attention should be paid to the fact that according to Moore’s law power of the computer is doubled every 18 months, capacity of memory units in 12 months time and the rate of information transmission through computer networks every 9 months. Consequently, the rate of investments and renewal of resources must be adjusted and optimized. The need in human resources will be fully met.

Technology risks

A new generic technology based on distributed systems and computer networks is under development and there is currently no viable alternative for it. Current status of science and technology in this respect is under intense development towards new technical solutions and standards. Thorough analysis and to-date experience has removed all doubts. The only open issue concerns the middleware that will be continuously upgraded.

Government related risks

The risk of implementation is smaller if the effect of the program is based on the broader social level. The proposed establishment of the Center according to the above program will create an environment for good and efficient scientific work as well as a testbed for up-to-date new methods and generic grid applications. This will ensure the service for application of the latest data processing tools for scientific and engineering multidisciplinary and multiinstitutional work. Economic growth will thus be facilitated, and global integration with the worldwide existing grid systems will become possible.

Risk minimization

The proposal has some elements of the national interest program inside the Croatia 21st Century Strategic Plan. Professionalism and responsibility of the subjects involved in the program minimize technical and technological risk.

Knowledge Management Information System

WEB/MIS/KM in Scientific Institute

Organisations in the Internet era are facing a highly competitive landscape where start-ups can take market share from the biggest multinationals. The need to move faster, think smarter, and maximise all of our assets (human and informational) is stronger than ever. Across all organisations and industry, effective Knowledge Management (KM) is emerging as a crucial element of success.A wealth of knowledge exists within the walls of every organisation — from the minds of employees to back-office databases to time-tested policies and procedures. Successful companies recapture and reapply that knowledge in ways that solve new business problems, leveraging the overwhelming strategic advantage that lies in “knowing what we know.”

Knowledge Management ReferenceResearch and the Institutes for Knowledge Management are dedicated to the observation and analysis of successful Knowledge Management practices. These efforts have generated compelling insights into the technological and social foundations of business interaction. Global Services Knowledge Management Practice and Professional Services define the practice and purpose of Knowledge Management as it relates to real-world business activities. This insight has shaped the research and development of products and services that are available today to solve specific business problems.Knowledge Management is far more than technology for locating or managing the “right” information. To drive competitive advantage, KM solutions must also help organisations create new knowledge, and decisively apply those insights to achieve concrete business goals — processes that entail collaboration among people.

Elements of Knowledge Management TechnologyIn short, people, not facts, are the focal point of Knowledge Management. To create and act on knowledge, people need places to meet and a way to manage the things (data, information, processes) that they find or create.People, Places, and Things are the key elements that form the basis for the development of Knowledge Management technology.

The Business Value of Knowledge Management

In the marketplace of e-Science and e-business, both traditional and non-traditional market oriented Institutes/companies face similar challenges:

- to improve the flow of information and knowledge across operating units,- to improve competitive response or identify new opportunities faster,- to reduce operating costs, or to operate more efficiently as a global scientific organisation,- to accelerate the rate of innovation and/or reduce R&D cycle times,- to reduce the loss of intellectual assets due to employee turnover,- to improve customer retention.

For many Institutes, Knowledge Management initiatives begin with the need to address these kinds of challenges: to get a handle on expertise; to stop reinventing the wheel; to better leverage a multidiscipline scientific / engineering staff; to improve customer care or capture customer information more effectively; and to repeat “best practices.” Implementing KM solutions, developer/user come to view Knowledge Management in terms of the strategic business goals it can most effectively support. We see KM as a discipline to

systematically leverage information and expertise to improve Institute responsiveness, innovation, competency and efficiency (RICE):

- Responsiveness refers to the ability to rapidly respond to change.- Innovation is the successful fostering of an organisation’s creative capacity.- Competency is the ability to catalogue the knowledge and expertise held by current

employees and makes it available to others, especially new employees.- Efficiency concerns the capacity to “know what we know” in order to minimise

the effort wasted in reinvention of the wheel.

Enhanced responsiveness and greater innovative capacity drive the top line by expanding revenue. Efficiency and competency save money by improving asset utilisation. Whatever the application(s) implemented, KM serves to encourage the sharing of knowledge and expertise, support ongoing learning, and reduce intellectual loss through employee turnover and job change.

Knowledge management structureMessaging functions

Web application platform that use to deliver secure, interactive e-Science applications and a rock-solid infrastructure for messaging and collaboration. A cornerstone to any KM initiative, gives you the foundation for building knowledge and collaboration applications.Instant decision making, collaborate on documents, reach consensus through discussion, and co-ordinate plans, tasks and resources. The flexibility inherent in programs allows Institute to meet current and evolving business requirements. Teams of users Institute-wide can easily create out-of-the box team workspaces.The program modules must be a business-ready, self-service team workspace expressly designed for collaboration. Through the program users instantly create secure workspaces on the Web, giving them a Place(s) to communicate, co-ordinate and collaborate on any project or ad-hoc initiative.

Time distribution

We must get an easy-to-use tool that allows users to see who is online and to collaborate with them instantly. They can easily find who may be working on the same projects. Create personalised lists of team members and colleagues. And control their online availability through robust user privacy features. Then, using instant tion with one person or a chat session involving several people. Or launch an instant, online meeting to share what they see on their computer screens, right from their desktops.For more robust collaboration, users can take advantage of Web-conferencing functionality by quickly moving to an application-sharing or whiteboard session. Users can share a screen frame, their desktops or applications with others, or show presentations and drawings on the whiteboard. Any application — word processing, spreadsheets, project management software can be shared with anyone in your community, instantly and securely. A user can give someone access to his or her computer to help solve a problem more quickly and efficiently.

Document management

We need a way to manage the multitude of documents your organisation creates and receives. Appropriate program automates and expedites the collaborative process of creating and using

proposals, reports, presentations, white papers, budgets, facilitates group authoring and editing, document review and approval, managing user access, archiving and more. Create a living library that helps your organisation discover what you already know.

Workflow functions

Workflow program must develop, refine and manage our business workflow processes. Create workflow applications quickly, and then easily update them to match your changing organisational needs—all with a visual, point-and-click interface. Monitor business processes throughout our Institute to ensure knowledge is distributed and actions are initiated.

Retrieval and discovery functions

The retrieval and discovery program provides expertise profiling and location; sophisticated content cataloguing and retrieval; and comprehensive search and knowledge audits. The server crawls through structured and unstructured content in order to extract, organise, and store the data that may be relevant to a given business task. The server also tracks relevant end user activity, identifying those individuals who may be best suited to address the task.

Project: Computing Center (CC)

in USDDescription Initial

investment

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

RevenuesSales 90.450 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000Gvmt & WB 150.750Other sources 361.800Total Revenues 603.000 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000CostsFacilities & Equipment 340.000Personnel 153.000ConsumablesIRB OverheadOther (MIS etc.) 110.000Total Expenses 603.000 0 0 0 0 0Operation profit 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000 150.000

Learning management

Institute need the complete learning management and delivery system that integrate our course content, whether we create it ourselves or purchase it from leading providers. We can mix and match delivery methods in a single course — including self-directed, asynchronous, or real-time collaboration. When we choose learning management function we get a comprehensive software platform, manage, and deliver e-learning that changes the way our business learns and works.

1.3 Basic principles

The idea of the Knowledge Management Information System (KMIS) is based on a "3C concept" of Content, Collaboration and Commerce. "Content" refers to the ability of the system to provide relevant archived information, as well as current up-to-date information. "Collaboration" means that the system should be friendly to individual users, but still integrate the user community by way of virtual meeting places and easy data sharing. Finally, "Commerce" part should enable the administration and marketing departments to track the business side of the organisation, as well as provide the opportunity for the customers, both potential and actual, to access the information about the organisation's work.Of course, this change to a KMIS depends first on well-implemented and custom-made software, and secondly on the change in user behaviour, i.e. adoption of a different routine and different set of procedures, which will surely prolong the development time after the software production period.

1.4 Technical Requirements

There are several important concepts that should be involved in the discussion of the Institute's KMIS development.

Open Source SoftwareIt is traditional for the academic and scientific organisations to adopt the open-source policy, since it is all about knowledge. An open-source project primarily facilitates quality assurance, and enables a virtually worldwide professional support. Secondly, it promotes customisation, and makes it not only easier, but also rather possible. Commercial and proprietary solutions do not provide for customisation, or if they do, charge outrageous sums of money for either the source code or, more often, the access to their own development experts. This is important because the Institute, as a scientific organisation, has specific needs, which are not as easily typecast as those of the commercial users do. Therefore, the Institute's KMIS project should use open-source software, the development tools as well as the starting code base, if any.

The same rationale goes for the server-side operating system, too. Linux has made itself a mainstay of the scientific community, it is very well supported, simple and well organised (for development, not necessarily for the user), and fully configurable. A proprietary solution would not be as satisfactory.

Web InterfaceThe system should have a World Wide Web interface. The main reason for this is that the web client is readily available on any platform currently in use. The other is that a special client software would require client-side upgrades, which is one of the best ways to introduce incompatibilities into the information system (which consequently destroy the main reason for the information system's existence, communicability of information).

Modular structure

The system should be extensible. The different functionality should be encapsulated into modules with minimal mutual dependency, to allow easy maintenance of the code.

Integrated systemDespite the modularization of the code, the data manipulation should be possible in a variety of ways, and it should be easy to use the same information from different modules. In short, the system itself should be well integrated, and the transitions between various modules as smooth and natural as possible.

1.5 Know-How Action Plan

The plan for a Knowledge Management Information System can currently be roughly divided into two parts: the web portal and the Management Information System.

Web portalThe best candidate for the Institute's web portal code base is the phpNuke open source project. It is a modular web engine, which is already in rather wide use, and its structure is satisfactory. It also has a large support community that produces many different ready-to-deploy modules. phpNuke itself already has modules for collaborative web page editorship: forums, news, poll and other often encountered multi-user features of good web sites. This engine employs PHP technology as its basis, and is thus capable of running on a configuration of Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL, which are all open-source tools.

The Institute will have to recode some parts, and probably add new modules specific to the Institute. The initial customization phase is projected to last 20 man-months; further expansion and development is dependent on the system analysis of the Institute's particular needs and practices.

Management Information SystemThe currently best candidate for the MIS code base is phpGroupWare, which is another, very similar, open-source PHP-based project, but oriented not so much toward being a web portal as toward being a groupware suite, similar in purpose to Lotus Domino or Microsoft Outlook, but web-based (obviating the need for a proprietary client-side software). It also has many modules, ranging from messaging, e-mail, calendar and to-do lists, to project-planning and finance modules. However, the current production level of this package is far from the polished quality of phpNuke; most modules and features are undocumented, many are not yet functional, and some are extremely unintuitive.

Therefore, the implementation of the MIS functionality is projected to last longer than that of the web portal – at least 50 man-months for the basic functionality and integration into the Institute processes, and more for the extra features (those that are not essential but still desirable for the efficiency, productivity and usability of the system).

Required resourcesThe implementation of these features would require a team of at least 4 developers with experience in Web-based technologies and SQL databases, understanding of the three-tiered model and working knowledge of Linux. Also, for the MIS, a system analyst and/or a finance expert should be available as professional consultants.

The necessary technical resources include a computer workstation for each developer; two additional high-performance machines to function as dedicated Web and database servers, respectively; and one additional machine to function as the primary development and testing Web and database server.

Assuming the minimum human resources noted above, the projected development period of the basic functionality is estimated at 20 months. After that period the development would pass into the second phase that would continue the implementation with the non-essential modules, as well as the functionalities requested in the meantime by the user base.

1.6 KM Investment requirements

For implementing Knowledge Management Information System (WEB & MIS) in Ruđer Bošković Institute we need additional investment support of 110 000 $ in the next two years.

APPENDIX

10.2 Modular concept and the plan of the new building