• What is HealthGrid?
• The HealthGrid initiative is an international open initiative born in Europe in 2003. It is composed of Biologists, Clinicians, Healthcare professionals, Medical devices providers, IT vendors, IT developers, Grid Middleware developers, Lawyers, Ethical, Social and Economic professionals...coming from more than 25 countries. The initiative is open to all stakeholders and end-users willing to use Grid technology to overcome the challenges of Life Science and Health and ready to involve himself/herself in this collaborative work. Our main objective is to raise awareness and interest about these technologies and to favour their adoption as well as the wide deployment of a fully operational European/International HealthGrid within 10 to 15 years.

• When shall I write "HealthGrid" in one word?
• "HealthGrid" is written in one word with a big "H" and a big "G" when it's related to the initiative or the association, and only with a big "H" when it concerns Communities in Grids in a general sense. Otherwise, if it belongs to technologies context, it is also possible to write it in plural all together like "healthgrids".
• However, as long as it is meant in a general sense, the word "grid" is separated from "health" and can be written with small "h" and "g" like "grids for health".

• What is the difference between the HealthGrid initiative and the HealthGrid association?
• The HealthGrid non-profit association is the legal structure, that allows us to strengthen the activities of the initiative as well as to be funded by the European Commission as full partner or sub-contractor in European projects. It is also a way to hire employees fully dedicated to reach our goals. People who decided to become member of the association have been demonstrating a very strong commitment to the goals of the HealthGrid initiative.

• May I contribute to the initiative without becoming a member of the association?
• Sure! The initiative is open and we are pleased to welcome everyone who is interested in contributing. Becoming a member of the association is a step further. You will confirm your strong support to the HealthGrid goals and you will become much more active and involved in the decision process as well as in the work done. Moreover and even if the membership fees are very low it is very useful for us to receive this support.

• Why becoming a member of the HealthGrid association?
• When you become a member of the HealthGrid association, you affirm your strong support to the HealthGrid goals and actions. As a compensation of your membership you will be actively involved in the decision process and in the work to be done. A new email account will be created (firstname.name@healthgrid.org - max. storage space 2GB) and we also expect to be able to provide you soon with restricted features.

• How is HealthGrid funded?
• Our financial means come from your membership fees, the European, National and Regional projects we are involved in as well as from the strong and faithful support of our industrial and academic partners.

• Where can I find more information?
• The HealthGrid's website, the HealthGrid Wiki, the HealthGrid Knowledge Base and the SVN code repository will host a large amount of information both about the HealthGrid worldwide initiative, the projects and actions undertaken. If you cannot find what you are looking for, do not hesitate to contact us.

• Why shall I register on the HealthGrid website?
• A few feature are restricted to registered users, such as posting news and events. Creating an account is free and gives you the access to more tools exclusively reserved to registered users like a new email account (firstname.name@healthgrid.org - max storage space 25MB). Please note that registering on the website does not make you a member of the association. These two registrations are independent.

• How can I publish news or events?
• As an open initiative, HealthGrid allows you to communicate events and news related to the focuses of the association. The only requirement is to have an account. If you do not have one yet, please create an account now. As soon as you have your login and password, please sign in ! you will have then access to the news and events edition tool.

• Do you provide banner hosting?
• The HealthGrid portal is a great place for advertising events and technologies related to Grids and healthcare. If you want us to host your banner or help you to advertise on some way, please contact us for discussing all the modalities of the service.