OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2011. A workshop conference “Information system of the innovative university 2011: Cloud computing in the organization of university management, research and educational activities” was held in Saint Petersburg. The event attracted over 100 participants from more than 30 Russian cities.

Since 2008 I.T. Co. hosts an annual conference “Information system of the innovative university”. This year, the Saint Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (University ITMO) co-hosted the event. In the autumn of 2010 I.T. Co. in partnership with ITMO won an open tender to receive subsidies and implement integrated projects aimed at high-tech production. The objective of the project is to develop integrated program solutions that will serve as a basis for a next generation multifunctional technological platform, and to deploy on this platform hardware and software to support infrastructure of domain-specific cloud computing.

This project perfectly fit in with the overall concept of the conference. A report on “Cloud Technologies as Survey Target and Platform for a Scientific Research” presented by Professor Alexander Bukhanovsky, Director of Research & Development Institute for high-tech computer technologies of the Saint Perersburg University ITMO, gained a special interest and was welcomed by the audience.

As expected, the workshop conference became a meeting place for numerous university specialists actively utilizing IT solutions for educational and scientific purposes, as well as for those specialists who are just considering future deployments. Participants were briefed on opportunities to use cloud technologies for educational and scientific activities, promising IT solutions designed for universities functioning on a cloud-based model, and means to develop such solutions within university information systems, as well as practical experience of operating cloud technologies at innovative universities.

At the conference I.T. Co. presented its new initiative – cloud project UniCloud that will offer to universities cloud solutions based on a single platform, providing cloud and service management.