Grid technology, one of the key technologies for the 'European Research Area', offers rapid computation, large scale data storage and flexible collaboration by harnessing together the power of large numbers of computers, from end-users' desktops to powerful workstations and clusters of more powerful machines. The grid was devised for use in scientific fields, such as particle physics and bioinformatics, in which large volumes of data, or very rapid processing, or both, are necessary. The impact of this concept has already reached beyond eScience, to eBusiness, eGovernment and eHealth. However, a major challenge is to take the technology out of the laboratory to the citizen. The term 'healthgrid' is used to describe the application of this technology to biomedical and healthcare informatics. This domain of application presents some difficult challenges.
Europe has already played a major part in the development of grids and healthgrids. The European association HealthGrid has set the agenda in this domain with its 2005 White Paper urging the concept, the opportunities and the likely benefits on senior decision makers. With that vision as its initial point of reference, the SHARE project was asked to identify the key developments needed to achieve wide adoption and deployment of healthgrids throughout Europe. The project was asked to organise these as milestones on a roadmap, so that all technical advances, social actions, economic investments and ethical or legal initiatives necessary for healthgrids would be seen together in a single coherent document.
The full road map (http://roadmap.healthgrid.org) includes an extensive analysis of several case studies exploring their technical requirements, full discussion of the ethical, legal, social and economic issues which may impede early deployment, and concludes with an attempt to reconcile the tensions between technological developments and regulatory frameworks.
Download SHARE the Journey: A European Healthgrid Roadmap (.pdf, 2.335 KB).
Download from the eHealthNews.EU Portal's mirror: SHARE the Journey: A European Healthgrid Roadmap (.pdf, 2.335 KB).
Compiled by: Mark Olive, Hanene Rahmouni and Tony Solomonides
based on I. Andoulsi; I. Blanquer; V. Breton ; A. Dobrev; C. Van Doosselaere; V. Hernandez; J. Herveg; N. Jacq; Y. Legré; M. Olive; H. Rahmouni; T. Solomonides; K. Stroetmann; V. Stroetmann; P. Wilson SHARE Integrated Road Map II (SHARE Deliverable D6.2)
Related article:
- FP6 eHealth Projects: SHARE