IEEE Brings Cloud Computing Expertise and User Resources Together to Foster Worldwide Collaboration and Innovation

Today IEEE, the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity, introduced a comprehensive set of resources and activities that bring together expertise from across the global organization to help accelerate the development and use of cloud computing technologies. The collection of resources and activities, established under the IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative (CCI), can be accessed from the newly launched IEEE Cloud Computing Web Portal (http://cloudcomputing.ieee.org/).

The IEEE CCI represents the first, broad-based collaborative endeavor for cloud computing to be offered by a global technical professional organization. The IEEE CCI coordinates, under one umbrella, the extensive work that experts from multiple disciplines within IEEE contribute to cloud computing and makes the results of this work conveniently available to anyone who wants to learn about them. The IEEE Cloud Computing Web Portal provides members of the technical community as well as the general public a convenient, centralized gateway to news and information about cloud computing and the many activities organized and led by the IEEE CCI.

The IEEE CCI will help advance the understanding and use of the cloud computing paradigm, which is expected to have a significant impact on the entire information and communications ecosystem and lead to the creation of 14 million new jobs, based on a new study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by the analysis firm IDC. Six interdependent activity tracks are included in the IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative: the Web portal; conferences; continuing education courses; publications; standards development; and a test bed to be used in the development of cloud standards and applications as well as for education and research.

“We are very excited to introduce this coordinated portfolio of cloud computing activities and to facilitate access, from the Web portal, to IEEE’s many technological resources and its deep expertise in the transformative field of cloud computing,” said Steve Diamond, chair of the IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative. “We encourage IEEE members, volunteers, our partners throughout the industry, and the general public to visit the Web portal to stay abreast of the latest news in this field, to contribute to the portal via the site’s feedback mechanisms, and to use the portal to take advantage of the information posted on individual tracks.”

IEEE Cloud Computing Web Portal

The IEEE Cloud Computing Web portal is designed to become a “go-to” Internet source for authoritative information about cloud computing. The portal will provide direct access to the IEEE CCI’s tracks dedicated to cloud computing conferences; educational materials; technical journals; standards activities; as well as cloud computing work that is under way by various IEEE technical societies. It will enable users to get involved and participate in new cloud computing opportunities, and provide easy access to the IEEE Xplore® digital library.

IEEE Cloud Computing Conferences

The IEEE CCI, in collaboration with IEEE societies, is organizing conferences to give thought leaders, users, vendors and interest groups opportunities to exchange knowledge and discuss cloud computing issues. The conference track launched this week at the IEEE CLOUD 2012 conference in Honolulu. The IEEE CCI has also developed a series of new conferences on cloud computing that will begin in the fourth quarter of 2012 with regional Cloud Congress conferences held in major cities in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and North America. The IEEE CCI will also launch a series of IEEE Cloud Computing for Emerging Markets (CCEM) conferences. The first of these will be held October 11-12, 2012 in Bangalore, India. The IEEE CCI will also create and sponsor a Cloud Computing World Forum in 2013.

IEEE Continuing Education

The education track will offer IEEE members and non-members a library of eLearning courses, which provide professional development hours or continuing education units on topics pertaining to cloud security, reliability, architecture and economics.

IEEE Cloud Computing Publications

IEEE is launching new publications on cloud computing for both expert and lay audiences. A peer-reviewed engineering journal, IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, and two new publications: IEEE Cloud Computing Magazine, and Cloud Computing Letters are currently under development.

IEEE Cloud Computing Standards

The IEEE CCI is leading the way on standards that will be fundamental to the creation of interoperable and accessible cloud computing platforms. In particular, the IEEE P2302™ Draft Standard for Intercloud Interoperability and Federation focuses on standards for cloud-to-cloud interfaces. For information about this standard, please visit the IEEE P2302 Working Group Web site at http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/2302/.

IEEE Cloud Computing Test Bed

The test bed will be a cloud infrastructure comprised of assets from participating universities and industry partners. It will be used to develop and test protocols that will be formalized in the IEEE P2302 interoperability standard. It will also be available as a resource for the initiative’s conference, educational, and publishing activities.

For more information about the IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative, please visit http://cloudcomputing.ieee.org/.

About IEEE

IEEE, a large, global professional organization, is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org.