Pilot projects in cloud computing for research is a programme run jointly by EPSRC and JISC. We are funding a range of pilot projects to explore and develop new cloud computing technologies for research. This website introduces the projects and keeps you up to date with recent developments. You can use the menu on the right hand side to browse the project miniblogs.

There is currently a lot of interest in cloud computing, a combination of technologies that promise to make (research) infrastructure more flexible, easier to use and also cheaper. On the other hand, there are also concerns about issues such as privacy, ethics and security; the portability of tools and data to and from different cloud platforms; uncertainties in prediction of the cost of research activities; or the absence of software tools, methods and platforms for researchers to properly exploit the cloud.

Lessons learned through the eleven pilot projects funded under Cloud computing for research will help to better understand how the cloud can be used for research applications, what the barriers and limitations are and how those might be overcome.

On 26th September 2011, EPSRC and JISC have hosted a workshop in order to share the results of the pilot projects and the lessons learned, and to discuss best practice. This half-day workshop was part of the UK e-Science All Hands Meeting in York.