Revisiting distributed simulation and the grid: a panel

Summary form only given. The grid, or grid computing, provides a new and unrivalled technology for large scale distributed simulation as it enables collaboration and the use of distributed computing resources. Last year at DS-RT 2004 a panel was convened to consider the impact of the grid on distributed simulation. Four members presented their views of this area and together they tried to identify the main research issues involved in applying grid technology to distributed simulation and the key future challenges that need to be solved to achieve this goal. These challenges included not only technical ones, but also social ones such as management methodology and the development of standards. This year we revisit this fast changing technology and ask the questions: 1) What major changes has grid computing had over the past year?; 2) How can distributed simulation and related applications benefit from grid computing?; 3) What are the barriers to this?; 4) Are there alternative new technologies that would be a better ROI for distributed simulation than grid computing?.