From the students to the students

As I wrote during the school, it's impressive how networking is the key (and I'm talking about social, rather than IT networking!).
Behind the grid of computers, there is a grid of people! The latter is what actually makes the former work ;)


The ISSGC is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a 2-weeks immersion in the Grid world: I do recommend it to the forthcoming students.
Not only do you get "a very comprehensive and internationally well-balanced view" (cfr. Malcolm) on grid technologies but you can also start building up a network of people sharing the same interests you have.

One thing I found extremely useful is the ISSGC public digital library: it provides a platform where you can retrieve all the lectures and events that took place during the school. I would suggest also to enrich this platform with tools for collaboration (at the moment the digital library is a one-way tool just for downloads). It would be great if we could use it also to effectively interact with the other participants of the school especially when it is over. It would be a space for research collaborations and sharing, as well as discussions between students of the same ISSGC year and/or belonging to different years. Let's call it Grid 2.0? :)

Of course the facebook group is a powerful (yet addictive!) tool as well: many students/staff have joined it already, and hopefully many other will do it soon. I believe digital life makes sense only if real life experiences happen: that's why I have already heard of organising an ISSGC08 alumni meeting sometime in the next months!

Giulio