Posted by n.chuehong on 21 December 2012 - 12:20pm

With the establishment of a European e-Infrastructure ecosystem, how to maintain and improve the scientific software base has become an urgent issue. Many applications depend on legacy software that is difficult to maintain and difficult to run efficiently on current and future e-Infrastructures. 

In view of the upcoming EC Horizon2020 program there is a clear need to develop a consistent framework and related policies for establishing a European Software Strategy taking a holistic view of the national, European, and international ecosystem.

This e-IRG Policy Paper lays the ground for such a strategy. The focus is on “scientific software”, that is software that is primarily used in research and development, both within academic and industrial environments.

The report, on which Neil Chue Hong from the SSI was a co-author, proposes as its main recommendation that to address the software crisis, the EC and the member states should provide support and funding for the establishment of Centres of Excellence for Scientific Software (CESS), currently focusing on scientific software on the application layer using a holistic approach, and building up and retaining the necessary competence of future European scientific software developers.

The full policy paper can be downloaded at: http://www.e-irg.eu/images/stories/publ/task_force_reports/e-irg_tfss_final.pdf

The e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG) was founded to define and recommend best practices for the pan-European electronic infrastructure efforts. It consists of official government delegates from all the EU countries. The e-IRG produces white papers, roadmaps and recommendations, and analyses the future foundations of the European Knowledge Society. This news article has been copied in a modified form from the 4th e-IRG newsletter and copyright remains with the e-IRG secretariat.