SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA - May 4, 2005 - Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP) is pleased to announce its membership in the Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA).

In a message from PRAGMA's Steering Committee Chair Peter Arzberger, Jacqueline Brown, PNWGP's Executive Director for International Partnerships, learned that the committee unanimously approved PNWGP's application for institutional membership on May 4, 2005 at the PRAGMA 8 Workshop in Singapore. Brown and Jim DeRoest, Director of Streaming Media Technologies for the University of Washington and the ResearchChannel, attended the PRAGMA 8 Workshop.

"It is extremely gratifying to me both as University of Washington Vice President and as a PNWGP board member to have PNWGP join PRAGMA, the primary Asia Pacific grid organization," said Ron Johnson. "I view this new partnership as strategically and tactically vital to the evolution of the gigapop and to the support of research at the UW."

PNWGP looks forward to collaborating with PRAGMA members to advance the use of grid technologies in support of research applications with leading institutions in the region and around the Pacific Rim.