CS3 2019 Conference: The future of cloud storage for science

The latest CS3 conference, a key event for the cloud storage community, was held in Rome at the end of January

CS3 2019 Conference: The future of cloud storage for science
Photo from the latest event in January (Image: CERN)

Ways to make it easier for scientists to collaborate on data and algorithms worldwide, and future innovative applications to support scientists in their daily work were the main highlights of the fifth CS3 conference on Cloud Storage Services for Synchronization and Sharing. The conference was held in Rome from 28 to 30 January 2019. 

CS3 is one of the key events for the cloud storage community. More than 150 registered participants from 75 institutions and 25 countries attended the event. The timetable featured 55 presentations, including a keynote address and three talks by invited speakers.

Cloud storage services allow the safe and efficient storage of data in remote computer centres and subsequently allow access to the data from any device: web, desktop or mobile. Popular cloud services include, for example, Dropbox and iCloud for the general public, and CERNBox for CERN users. 

Over the years, many similar services have been provided in other institutions. CS3 services have also become a platform for hosting and integrating applications and research environments. Examples include collaborative document editing, notebook analysis environments, metadata tagging, research data publication interfaces and more. 

CS3 attracts interest from a worldwide science community, with institutions representing a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines beyond High-Energy Physics. The majority of these institutions provide cloud storage services for their research/user communities and CS3 also attracts interest from a number of commercial entities operating in the field of cloud storage. The conference has become a regular unmissable event for SMEs and has been acting as an incubator of innovation and standardisation, for example hosting standardisation initiatives such as the Open Cloud Mesh Federation protocol (OCM). 

CS3 is somewhat special: all the participants, companies included, are requested to submit technical abstracts, and all undergo the same review and acceptance process. 

The next event is under discussion and will be announced soon on the community page

The CS3 community web page documents all past events and the scientific programme.