A Year of Cyberinfrastructure at Illinois

Chuck Thompson and Tracy SmithMembers,

Year of CI Planning Team

Outline

• Cyberinfrastructure Defined• The Need for Cyberinfrastructure• A Year of Cyberinfrastructure• Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Master Plan• IT Pro Involvement

How Do You Define Cyberinfrastructure?

How NSF Defines Cyberinfrastructure

Distributed computer, information and communication technologies combined with the personnel and integrating components that provide a long-term platform to empower the modern scientific research endeavor

Innovation, Discovery

CIF21: Cyberinfrastructure as an Ecological System

GrandChallenge

Communities

Learning &WorkforceDevelopment

Campus Bridging, Cybersecurity

AdvancedComputationalInfrastructure

Data

ScientificInstruments

Software

Common Reaction to NSF Definition

How Do We Define Cyberinfrastructure For Faculty

“Whatever IT related services you need in order to better conduct your research.”

Outline

• Cyberinfrastructure Defined• The Need for Cyberinfrastructure• A Year of Cyberinfrastructure• Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Master Plan• IT Pro Involvement

A Third Method of Scientific Inquiry

• Theory• Experimentation• Computation

Benefits of Cyberinfrastructure

Competitiveness

Advances research

Fosters innovation

Enables collaboration

Recruitment tool

Campus CI Resources

Campus CI Resources• Blue Waters (Illinois researcher allocations)• Campus Advanced Research Network Environment

(CARNE)• Campus Research Data Service (RDS)• Data Center Shared Services (DCSS)• Illinois Campus Cluster Program (ICCP)• Scholarly Commons

Campus CI Observations

• CI Definition • Raise awareness of CI role• Many things happening in this

space with only information coordination

Outline

• Cyberinfrastructure Defined• The Need for Cyberinfrastructure• A Year of Cyberinfrastructure• Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Master Plan• IT Pro Involvement

A Year of CyberinfrastructureAKA “A Year of Action”

• Inspired by “Year of Data Stewardship”• Funded by OVCR and OCIO• http://cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu/

Year of CI Goals

Highlight how CI is used

Develop a CI roadmap

Create a common

understanding

Let’s Shorthand It…

• Socialize Concept• Assess Needs• Write Plan• Write Recommendation to

Adopt Plan• (Keep) Implement(ing)

Year of CI Activities

Opening Symposium Held September 30

Seminars

Roadshows

Surveys

Plan Writing

Plan Vetting and Acceptance

Year of CI Opening Symposium• Comments by Provost Adesida, Vice-Chancellor for Research

Peter Schiffer, CIO Mark Henderson• Overview by John Towns• Keynote by Sally Jackson• Lightning Round talks by Four Researchers• Closing Remarks by Prof. Roy Campbell

http://cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu/symposium

Year of CI Seminars

• Raise awareness of CI in support of research

• Understand how others have addressed issues…or struggle with them!

• Understand how Illinois’ CI fits into the national/international ecosystem

• Facilitated discussions• Listen & learn about

research• Raise awareness of CI

Year of CI Survey

• Quantitative and Qualitative Questions• Targeted distribution at roadshows• Mass distribution to all faculty

It’s a source of input, not the source of input

Outline

• Cyberinfrastructure Defined• The Need for Cyberinfrastructure• A Year of Cyberinfrastructure• Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Master Plan• IT Pro Involvement

Year of CI Opening Keynote

• “The Social Side of Cyberinfrastructure”– By Dr. Sally Jackson

Watch it for insights about the CI Master Plan:http://go.illinois.edu/yearofci_openingkeynote

Need for a CI Master Plan

• CI co-evolves with research programs– Researchers encounter a problem, invent a tool to

solve it, and add that tool to the ecosystem. • The tool finds other users– Often in other fields, producing unanticipated

changes of direction in research

Need for a CI Master Plan

• Much of what we spend on CI comes from research awards

• Campus CI investments are not coordinated• Need a coherent way of considering campus CI

needs and facilitating additional funding discussions about them

Facilities Master Plan as Model• Show Existing and Planned Buildings• Multiple Layers Showing Different Components• Document Constraints• Long Term Vision to Guide Planning• Used to Justify Evolving Changes• Inform Decisions on What to do Next

CI Master Plan Model

• Researchers, Resources, Expertise• Interconnects• Document Constraints• Long Term Vision to Guide Planning• Used to Justify Evolving Changes• Inform Decisions on What to do Next

A Sociogram View of CICI

CI

Unlabeled nodes are researchers or research groups

A Sociogram View of CICI

CI

Unlabeled nodes are researchers or research groups

Integrated Planning

• Facilities master plans intertwine with other planning and CI master plan must do likewise

CI Master Plan as Attractor

• Facilities master plans attract philanthropy• CI master plan can attract grant funding,

faculty, and collaborations

CI Master Plan Writing

• Core team to draft document• Team to include faculty from

broad range of disciplines• Input from roadshows,

surveys, strategic plans• First draft by early Spring 2015

CI Master Plan Vetting

• Vetting and Editing Mid-Spring 2015– Campus IT Governance heavily engaged

• Open Comment and Feedback Period• First Version Finalized May 2015• Recommendations to Campus– Informed by the CI Master Plan

Outline

• Cyberinfrastructure Defined• The Need for Cyberinfrastructure• A Year of Cyberinfrastructure• Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Master Plan• IT Pro Involvement

IT Pro Involvement

• Provide the feedback loop• Encourage researchers to

participate in needs gathering• Help build the CI roadmap

IT Pro Involvement

• You are the local “go to” person• Know what is available• Know whom to contact

http://cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu/info@cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu

IT Pro Communications

• What do you need to know?• What do you want to know?• When do you need to know it?• How do you want to learn

about it?

A Year of CI Elevator Speech• Demystify CI by defining it for Illinois• Gain an understanding of CI needs

directly from the researchers who use/need it

• Build a comprehensive, well-informed plan to guide CI growth

• Start and maintain the necessary feedback loopResearchers should be focused on RESEARCH and not the underlying

technology that enables them to do research!

Year of CI Planning Team• John Towns, NCSA• Randy Cetin, CITES / Office of the CIO• David Gerstenecker, College of ACES• Heidi Imker, Research Data Services and University Library• Chris Larrison, School of Social Work• Eric Shaffer, Department of Computer Science• Tracy Smith, CITES• Chuck Thompson, College of Engineering• Kandace Turner-Jones, NCSA

Year of Cyberinfrastructure

http://cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu/

info@cyberinfrastructure.illinois.edu

Campus CI Resources• Illinois Campus Cluster Program (ICCP)

– http://campuscluster.illinois.edu/

• Blue Waters (Illinois researcher allocations)– http://bluewaters.ncsa.illinois.edu/

• Campus Advanced Research Network Environment (CARNE)– http://www.cites.illinois.edu/researchnet/

• Data Center Shared Services (DCSS)– http://datacenter.illinois.edu/

• Campus Research Data Service (RDS)– http://researchdataservice.illinois.edu/

• Scholarly Commons– http://www.library.illinois.edu/sc/