Announcing a newly published Informational document in the GGF document series: Title: Defining the Grid: A Roadmap for OGSA(TM)¢ Standards Author/editor: H. Kishimoto & J. Treadwell GFD #: GFD-I.052 Download link: http://www.ggf.org/ggf_docs_final.htm Abstract: The Global Grid Forum (GGF) has embraced the Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) as the industry blueprint for standards-based grid computing. âOpenâ refers to the process used to develop standards that achieve interoperability. âGridâ is concerned with the integration, virtualization, and management of services and resources in a distributed, heterogeneous environment. It is âservice-orientedâ because it delivers functionality as loosely coupled, interacting services aligned with industry-accepted Web service standards. The âarchitectureâ defines the components, their organizations and interactions, and the design philosophy used. While much progress has been made with OGSA, there remains a lack of clarity concerning exactly what OGSA is, who defines it, what will be defined when, and who is contributing to its development. This informational document answers these questions by providing a snapshot of the evolving OGSA space and an explanation of the direction chosen by OGSA-WG and GGF. -- Greg Newby (GGF Editor)