Since the publication of the previous e-IRG Roadmap in 2007, the e-Infrastructure field has undergone several fundamental changes. The crucial importance of e-Infrastructures for European research, innovation and competitiveness is universally acknowledged, while at the same time networking, Grid, data, high performance and commodity computing services are witnessing major organisational and technical changes. The ongoing expansion of the e-Infrastructure user communities is also already producing new and updated requirements for the common e-Infrastructure.

The microcosm, the realm of quantum physics, is ruled by probability and chance. The behaviour of quantum particles cannot be predicted with certainty but only with certain probabilities given by quantum physics. This results in a so-called quantum noise, which fundamentally limits the precision of the most refined atomic clocks and interferometers. The solution to this problem is the use of entangled atomic systems. A break-through has now been achieved by a team around Professor Theodor W. Hänsch and Professor Philipp Treutlein, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching. Philipp Treutlein is Professor at the Universität Basel since February 2010. For the first time the scientists succeeded in generating multi-particle entanglement on an atom-chip. This technique opens a way to significantly enhance the precision of chip-based atomic clocks or interferometers and could also form the basis for quantum computers on microchips. The Munich experiments have been carried out in co-operation with theoretical physicists around Dr. Alice Sinatra from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris.

IBM has introduced new systems highly-tuned and optimized to help clients more quickly draw insights from vast amounts of data to anticipate emerging business trends, capture new opportunities and avoid risks. These new optimized systems support all environments in a data centre, enabling clients to handle higher volumes of transactions and analyze data where it resides. IBM has also launched IBM pureScale Application System with POWER7 technology and Smart Analytics Systems for x86 and mainframe environments. Each is integrated at every level - from microprocessors to hardware and software, highly-tuned for analyzing enormous amounts of data and in real-time handling data intensive transactions.