Proofs of Concept

Through a range of Proofs of Concept, cultural institutions and e-Infrastructure providers work together to experiment the actual use of distributed computing and storage infrastructures (NREN, grids, clouds, newer data infrastructures) to store and manage cultural digital resources, starting from the targeted specific services identified in the Roadmap and from real scenarios and user stories provided by the cultural institutions.

Organised in two phases of experimentation (PoC 1 & PoC 2), the results of these experiments inform the roadmapping and best practices activities in DCH-RP with, respectively, their intermediate and final results.

At the end of the project, nine recommendations were formulated for the DCH-RP Roadmap (four concerning the software architecture and deployment field, and five regarding business models and service management):

Software architecture and deployment field

  • End-user equipment installation must be as easy as possible
  • Maintained software dependencies
  • Integration with OS distribution package management (e.g. RPM, DEP on Linux)
  • Seek for modular/pluggable generic software

Business models and service management

  • Develop a service-oriented architecture minimising vendor lock-in
  • Invest in common business process development across CH community
  • Develop a common catalogue of needed services
  • Consider business relationships beyond direct e-Infrastructure-to-CH relationships
  • Strategic focus on stakeholder's target audience and early adopters with impact on the community