In Marshall McLuhan's vision of the 'Global Village', he said:

"We have laid out our own electric networks on a global scale by cable, by telegraph, by radio, by all sorts of electric means. These circuits are loaded with data that move instantly and which have become indispensable to all decision makers in business, in education, and in politics. These circuits have a peculiar character not just of connecting us with one another but of involving us with one another. It is because of the speed. With circuitry the feedback occurs at the same moment the event occurs."

With the widespread adoption of the Internet, McLuhan's forward-looking view on the ubiquity of information became one of the most noteworthy technology predictions of our time. But I believe the 'Global Village' vision also bears relevance to the Open Source community's expectations of information sharing today. The speed with which information can be transmitted today is such that there should be an equal access to resources and knowledge for any Globus Toolkit developer, in any country, speaking any language.

With the latest Globus Toolkit globalization efforts, the Globus Consortium has taken a close look at what needs to happen for the Globus Toolkit to be equally accessible to international developers. This study -- commissioned by the Globus Consortium, and performed by Univa -- outlines the necessary steps and required resources to allow international developers to write Globus Toolkit code in their own native languages, among other new capabilities that need to be realized to truly 'level the playing field' and make the Globus Toolkit open source Grid project a truly Global Village.

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