Practically all areas of human life have been adapted to computers. This evolution makes it possible to change the paradigm in many sectors, in science for example. In the field of science, this has brought about exponential growth resulting in the creation of new scientific knowledge and solutions to real problems that would have been impossible to attain without help from computers.
In particular, the Géant project, in which the University of Cordoba is participating, continues to reinforce this duality of science and computing. The initiative, made up of 39 partners from different countries, provides European educational and research communities with necessary connectivity and infrastructures to share, access and process large volumes of data. In other words, just one network to interconnect more than 50 million users and 10,000 organizations so they can share information related to different scientific areas, such as particle physics, bioinformatics, discovering new drugs and Earth observation data.
“The aim is to provide an excellent infrastructure that enables Europe to continue leading in the research sector”, explains researcher Sergio Gómez, coordinator of the free Software Room, researcher in the Area of New Technologies at the University of Cordoba and one of the ones in charge of the UCO initiative. “In addition to communication services, the project gives practical support to the different members in order to share knowledge, organize events and develop services related to digital identity”, he explains.
The project just began a new phase called GN4-3 that aims to enhance elements like system security, for which a new work group was created, and develop new ideas and technologies that can be useful for the research community, among other things. In this sense, the initiative is developing new services like the creation of open hardware to manage cryptographic keys and new ways to authenticate users on academic networks.
The University of Cordoba, specifically part of this last work package, is working on a new identity provider that let users use their passport or electronic ID card for identification. Furthermore, in parallel, the project’s new phase is also trying to introduce improvements in fibre optics to broaden its current scope and thus improve interconnectivity within this European research community.
“Collaboration among partners will mean saving time and also money”, points out researcher Sergio Gómez, who adds that “the sum of these efforts will enable us to accomplish greater aims affecting network security improvement and optimization of research resources”.
The GÉANT project (H2020-SGA-INFRA-GEANT-856726)" is funded by the European Union under the H2020-SGA-INFRA-GEANT-2018 call.
This article is part of the communication strategy designed by the International Project Office to divulge the international projects granted to the University of Cordoba.