A research and product development environment based on open source code for cloud computing and digital services will be established in the CSC Kajaani Datacentre. TIVIT, a Finnish non-profit company, is responsible for the operation of the laboratory, titled Forge.
Forge enables better usability of open information materials produced with public funding when new digital services are being developed. Software and services can be tested by customers in the development environment before release to production in commercial cloud environments outside of Forge. Forge provides many start-up companies with easy access to professional help, collaboration networks and computing resources and with support in a single place.
The incentive for companies that have already established their business is the low threshold for trying out new concepts with other organisations in a safe development environment, which supports collaboration. Companies whose services and products can further be refined and utilised through the design and implementation of new digital services, also benefit from using Forge.
“Forge provides the users with safe and supported access to new, high-quality cloud services,” commented Janne Järvinen, head of the Cloud Software programme financed by Tekes, and director of F-Secure.
For example, the best results of the Cloud Software programme, due to terminate at the end of 2013, will be processed further in this new digital services development laboratory. The new ecosystem project, Finncloud, which aims to create new cloud businesses, also relies on Forge. The participants in Finncloud are ECE Oy, Nethawk, F-Secure, Hammerkit, Nestronite and the CSC-IT Centre for Science in co-operation with Kainuun Etu Oy. New partners for participation are continuously sought. Finncloud, which is supported by Tekes, has a total budget of approximately €3 million. Its first stage will last for 18 months.
The CSC Kajaani Datacentre is a solution that is both eco-efficient as well as cost-efficient. The servers are cooled with outdoor air and the primary electricity is produced with certified hydroelectric power. The Datacentre aims at a PUE ratio of 1.15, a figure up to 20% better than the energy efficiency of CSC’s current hardware facilities. The PUE (power usage efficiency) ratio is the ratio between a datacentre’s total energy consumption and the energy consumed by the servers.
For more information, please contact:
Chairman of the Forge steering group at TIVIT, Development Manager Pekka Lehtovuori, CSC
+358503819723
Forge’s director Jari Juopperi, TIVIT
+358405068552
TIVIT
TIVIT (the Finnish acronym for Information and Communication Technology Research) Oy is one of the Finnish Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation. It accelerates the development of Finnish ICT expertise with the goal of growing businesses and creating new jobs. TIVIT’s task is to combine and systematise the development work in its field while improving its efficiency, and to make research results available to businesses more quickly.
CSC
The CSC-IT Centre for Science Ltd is administered by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. CSC is a non-profit company providing IT support and resources for academia, research institutes and companies, which includes modelling, computing and information services. CSC provides Finland’s widest selection of scientific software and databases and Finland’s most powerful supercomputing environment, which researchers can use via the Funet network.