Towards an educational grid for promoting bioinformatics competency in the Asia Pacific

In order to promote the awareness of bioinformatics, the availability of computational and database resources and the advancement of bioinformatics research competency in the Asia Pacific region, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNet), S* Life Science Informatics Alliance and Sun Microsystems’ Asia Pacific Science and Technology Center (APSTC) are collaborating to develop various components leading to a bioinformatics educational grid. Freely accessible via the Internet, this education grid combines (a) educational material from the S* Alliance, including audio-video teaching material from Singapore, Stanford, Sweden (Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University), University of Sydney, University of California San Diego, South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) and Macquarie University Sydney, (b) problem-based learning and tutorial modules from S* Alliance, (c) APBioBox software from APBioNet funded by IDRC Pan Asia Networking project, (d) Bio-Cluster Grid software from Sun Microsystems, (e) biological databases from the Bio-Mirrors project of APBioNet and the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN), and (f) audio-conferencing emeeting system and the IVLE system from Centre for Instructional Technology, National University of Singapore. Strategies on building this educational grid with leading agencies in the region are also discussed.