IBM joins crusade to reinvent the internet

IBM is stepping up its commitment to developing the next-generation of the internet based on a technology called 'grid computing'.

Grid computing treats high-speed computing power like an electrical utility network.

The technology involves sharing huge database files and programs across high-speed network connections, allowing users of any computing device to call up enormous processing power and resources when attached to a network.

One of the key challenges to the success of grid computing is the development of the middleware which will allow thousands of disparate computers running different operating systems and network configurations to collaborate effectively.

The driving force behind the evolutionary project is the global scientific community which increasingly needs to collaborate on vast amounts of research data remotely - particularly in the areas of genomics and particle physics.

One of the strongholds of the grid computing project is the Geneva physics laboratory Cern, the birthplace of the world wide web.

Cern is developing a particle accelerator which will generate billions of bits of data that will need to be analysed when the technology is launched in 2005.

IBM has won two national grid projects in Europe, one in the UK and the other in the Netherlands.

The UK initiative is being spearheaded by IBM research executive Irving Wladawsky-Berger, who is also heading up the company's Linux project - a technology closely linked with the Big Blue's grid computing drive.

The open source community has been instrumental in laying down the blueprints for the grid technology. In the US, space agency Nasa as well as the national defence and aeronautical departments already have prototype grids in operation or in development.