Serbia to establish WLCG Tier-1 center – Powerful "computing farm" for permanent raw data storage being formed at State Data Center

The Government of Serbia has adopted a decision to establish a Working Group for the creation and operational functioning of a WLCG Tier-1 center in Serbia. The WLCG is a network of computing centers distributed across dozens of countries, providing global computing resources for the storage, distribution, and analysis of data generated by the LHC. This complex network is organized into tiers - Tier 0 is CERN's data center, Tier 1 centers are powerful computing farms capable of providing permanent storage for raw data and Tier 2 centers are additional data centers located at various collaborating institutes worldwide.

As specified in the decision, the working group will serve as an ad hoc body of the Government, tasked with coordinating activities related to the establishment and full operational implementation of a WLCG Tier-1 center at the State Data Center in Kragujevac. This process will be carried out in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation regarding the establishment and use of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), as well as in line with WLCG requirements and the needs of the CMS experiment. CERN and Serbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 9, 2023.

The Working Group will assess the status of the project's implementation and propose activities necessary for establishing the center's full operational capacity, defining the division of responsibilities among the participating institutions and establishing a management and operational model for the center.

In cooperation with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the structures of the WLCG and the CMS experiment, the working group, acting through the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, will harmonize technical and operational requirements. It will also coordinate activities related to the installation, configuration, integration, testing and validation of the infrastructure, including the provision of appropriate network connectivity.

– The Working Group will assess requirements for the development and maintenance of computing, storage and network capacities, the engagement and training of experts, the provision of technical support and service availability and incident response procedures. It will also propose measures to ensure these conditions are met – the decision states.

Within the working group, representatives of the Ministry of Science will coordinate institutional cooperation, including collaboration with CERN and other international partners, as well as the preparation of proposals for securing necessary funding and for submission to the relevant state authorities for consideration and decision-making.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment, in cooperation with Data Cloud Technology, will coordinate activities related to the establishment and maintenance of the center's computing, storage and network infrastructure and will monitor compliance with the technical requirements necessary for its continuous operation.

Marija Gnjatovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, has been appointed Chair of the working group, which will include five additional members. The working group is established for a period ending six months after the date on which the center is integrated into the WLCG operational infrastructure.

Ministarstvo nauke, tehnološkog razvoja i inovacija Republike Srbije

Kancelarija za informacione tehnologije i elektronsku upravu Beograd

Data cloud technology d.o.o. Kragujevac

State Data Center Kragujevac

WLCG Tier 1 center

Ministry of Science

CERN

Data Cloud Technology

Office for Information Technologies and Electronic Government