GridKa School 2014: Big Data, Cloud Computing and Modern Programming

Sponsors

	Helmholtz-Allianz "Physics at the Terascale"   The Helmholtz Alliance “Physics at the Terascale” bundles German activities in the field of high-energy collider physics. It is a network comprising all German research institutes working on LHC experiments, a future linear collider or the related phenomenology - 18 universities, two Helmholtz Centres and one Max Planck Institute. The Alliance includes the following topics: development of new accelerator and detector technologies, methods of data analysis, development of theoretical models and methods and development of the relevant computing infrastructure.
	HITACHI Data Systems   Hitachi Data Systems provides information technologies, services and solutions that help companies improve IT costs and agility, and innovate with information to make a difference in the world. Our customers gain compelling return on investment (ROI), unmatched return on assets (ROA), and demonstrable business impact. We have approximately 6,000 employees worldwide. We conduct business in more than 100 countries and regions. Our products, services and solutions are trusted by the world's leading enterprises, including more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and more than 80% of the Fortune Global 100.
	IBM   IBM is a globally integrated enterprise operating in over 170 countries. Today IBM UK has around 20,000 employees, bringing innovative solutions to a diverse client base to help solve some of their toughest business challenges. In addition to being the world's largest IT and consulting services company, IBM is a global business and technology leader, innovating in research and development to shape the future of society at large. IBM's prized research, development and technical talent around the world partner with governments, corporations, thinkers and doers on ground breaking real world problems to help make the world work better and build a smarter planet.
	INTEL   Since its founding in 1968, Intel Corporation has grown into the world's largest semiconductor company (based on revenue). The company employs ca. 100.000 people across more than 60 countries. Intel's products and technologies are at the heart of computing and communications systems that have become essential parts of businesses, schools, and homes around the world; and are being used to tackle some of the world's most complex problems - in areas that include education, healthcare, economic development, or smart cities. The company's products include microprocessors, chipsets, other semiconductor products and software which are integral to computers, servers and infrastructure powering the Cloud, as well as consumer electronics, handheld devices and connected "embedded" products that include cars, shopping kiosks and bank ATMs. Intel's focus is not solely on the products it delivers. From primary schools to leading universities, Intel is committed to improving the quality of education around the world, which serves as the foundation for future innovation and well-being. Over the past decade alone Intel has invested over US$1 billion and Intel employees have donated over 3 million hours toward improving education in more than 60 countries. Intel is headquartered in Santa Clara, California (USA). Additional information about the company is available at blogs.intel.com
	SAP   As the market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 253,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.
	Smart Data Innovation Lab Structuring and analysing Big Data leads to new information, Smart Data, which can be used to advance science or to support decision processes. The Smart Data Innovation Lab provides a research platform for industry and science which is the basis of excellent Smart Data research.
	SwiNG   SwiNG strives to make every researcher in Switzerland digital through the provision of online services, computational tools and end-user support. To achieve this there is a real need for establishing a federated approach to research infrastructures which can drive Switzerland towards becoming a world leader in scientific research and improve competitiveness of Swiss computational sciences. SwiNG coordinates and promotes the development of heterogeneous Swiss academic computing services and establishing a strong and expert support network for end-users. By listening and learning from our stakeholders, SwiNG influences how Swiss academic research scientific computing resources are organized and provides guidance to policy makers on how the distribution of future funding. With support from major research institutions around Switzerland, SwiNG coordinates the effort of its member institutions and represents their common interests and sustain existing tools and services by making them available for use by the research community.
	Microsoft Research Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. More than 1,100 brilliant scientists and engineers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and openly collaborate with leading academic, government, and industry researchers to advance the state of the art of computing, help fuel the long-term growth of Microsoft and its products, and solve some of the world’s toughest problems through technological innovation. The Microsoft Azure for Research program provides academic, government, and industry researchers with access to a variety of tools and resources to help them maximize cloud computing for their research – www.azure4research.com