DILIGENT Deliverable D4.3.1 - Market and Technology Trends Analysis

Aaberg Ia, Andrade P, Baldacci Mb, Castelli D, Fankhauser P, Manieri A, Faggian Marque R, Niederee C, Nucci Fs

Digital libraries  Grid  utility computing  e-Science  eu-ist 

This report contains the technology and market analysis which will form the foundation for developing DILIGENT's sustainability model in D4.3.2. The document contains an analysis of what technologies are available in the Digital Libraries market, compares them with Grid technologies, analyzes Digital Libraries user requirements, and looks at the joint capabilities of DILIGENT's consortium members. We expect relevant technologies and market requirements to evolve significantly during DILIGENT's duration. Therefore, a yearly analysis will be performed to secure up-to-date information on relevant market needs, technology developments, competition, and new business opportunities. The DILIGENT solution is a reusable framework for dynamic creation of Grid-based Digital Libraries solutions and services for e-Science communities and organization. The framework allows Virtual Research Organisations to integrate archive and other services required to meet their users' needs. DILIGENT's value proposition is to be a key component in the value chain which brings together content providers, service providers, and storage and computation providers in the delivery of Digital Libraries services. The report shows how the demand for making vast amounts of information available and retrievable increasingly is gaining the attention of corporations and governments. Recently, Google - the US web search company, announced it will fund PrintGoogle which is a 150 - 150 million US-dollar project to digitalise the books of 5 US and UK libraries. As an apparent response to Google's initiative, President Jacques Chirac of France wants to establish a similar and EU-coordinated program for European texts and libraries. No vendors of commercial Digital Libraries exist today, and most efforts in the field have been based on tailoring solutions to meet project and collection specific needs. DILIGENT's platform and service approach seems to be unique. No comprehensive standards addressing the broad needs of Digital Libraries exist. Our report describes a number of projects and initiatives within the Digital Libraries and Virtual Research Organization space, including DSpace, Greenstone, OpenDLib, BSCW Server, Sun Developer Network, Wikipedia, etc. The functional, operational and management requirements of Digital Libraries and Virtual Research Organizations are analyzed and documented.