Red Hat will be collaborating with Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Boston University to develop a testbed for new cloud computing technologies. The three universities received a National Science Foundation grant to build the Open Cloud Testbed that would support tests of national cloud research and development efforts, Red Hat said Wednesday. The project will build on the existing CloudLab testbed network that offers network and computing hardware at sites in South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Red Hat will offer hybrid cloud technologies and support to integrate CloudLab technologies into collaboratively developed production cloud known as Massachusetts Open Cloud. The effort aims to address the computing needs of cloud technology researchers, expand collaborative development, further build the cloud research community and accelerate the transition of technologies into use.