Cyberinfrastructure:Framing the Issues on Your Campus

What is it?Why do we care?

What do we do about it now?1

Peter M. Siegel

CIO and Vice Provost, UC Davis Educause Western Regional Conference

1 April 2008

Definitions - from infrastructure to cyberinfrastructure

“The term infrastructure has been used since the 1920’s to refer collectively to the roads, power grids, telephone systems, bridges, rail

lines, and similar public works that are required for an industrial economy to function.

The newer term cyberinfrastructure refers to infrastructure based upon distributed computer, information and communication technology.”

Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, (Atkins Report), 2003.

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The Term Cyberinfrastructure (CI)

3

NSF Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery

“Final Version”March 2007

4

Definitions - from infrastructure to cyberinfrastructure

“If infrastructure is required for an industrial economy, then we could say that cyberinfrastructure is required for a knowledge economy.”

Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, (Atkins Report), 2003.

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The CI Problem Statement

• “Although good infrastructure is often taken for granted and noticed only when it stops functioning, it is among the most complex and expensive things that society creates.”

– Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, (Atkins Report), 2003.

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Cyberinfrastructure has broad implications- Education, Commerce, Social Good

“The emerging vision is to use Cyberinfrastructure to build more ubiquitous, comprehensive digital environments.…”

“Increasingly, new types of scientific organizations and support environments for science are essential, not optional, to the aspirations of research communities and to broadening participation in those communities….”

“This vision also has profound broader implications for education, commerce, and social good.”

Executive Summary, page 2, Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, (Atkins Report), 2003.

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Cyberinfastructure- All areas of Inquiry

The sum of these changes constitutes “a new age” Science and engineering are being transformed by

Cyberinfrastructure. This is just as true of the social, behavioral, and

economic (SBE) sciences as of the physical, natural, engineering, and biological sciences.

Francine Berman and Henry Brady, SBE/CISE Workshop on Cyberinfrastructure for the Social Sciences, May 2005.

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9

The report of the American

Council of Learned Societies

Commision on Cyber-

infrastructure for the

Humanities and Social Sciences

The report of the American

Council of Learned Societies

Commision on Cyber-

infrastructure for the

Humanities and Social Sciences

“ It is important for the

humanities and social sciences

to participate in their [cyber-

infrastructure environments’] construction”

“ It is important for the

humanities and social sciences

to participate in their [cyber-

infrastructure environments’] construction”

NSF Cyberinfrastructure Vision The Mission

Develop human-centered CI driven by research and education opportunities

Provide world-class CI tools and services in key areas High Performance Computing Data, Data Analysis, and Visualization Virtual Organizations for Distributed Communities Learning and Workforce Development

Promote a CI that broadens participation and strengthens the nation’s workforce in all areas of science and engineering

Provide a sustainable CI- secure, efficient, reliable… that [is] an essential national infrastructure

Create a stable but extensible CI environment

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Is Cyberinfrastructure Mission-Critical?

• The vision (hype?)– A New Age has dawned– Affects all Areas of Inquiry– Key to Knowledge Economy– Includes Education and Workforce Development,

not just research– Human-centered– Requires New Models for Collaboration

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Is Cyberinfrastructure Mission-Critical?

• Is this the reality?• Not on radar screen?• What money?• Cyber-what?• That’s the job of the (provost -> dean -> CIO -> faculty

member -> groundskeeper)• It’s only for (researchers, cluster users, those people)

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Russ Hobby, Internet213

Cyberinfrastructure Players

Medicine

DisciplineGroups*

BiologicalScience.

PhysicalScience

GridOrgs*

National

RegionalInternational

SupercomputerSites*

ComputationStorage

SoftwareDevelopment

DisciplineSupport

CampusIT Security

ID Mgmt

NetworkData

Center

Researchers*

StaffGrad

Students

Faculty

NetworkProviders*

National

RegionalInternational

Security/Access

Coordinators*

National

RegionalInternational

CollectionsOrganizations*

DisciplineGroups

PublishersLibraries Policy*/Leadership*/

Funding

FederalAgencies

EducationalOrganizationsOGF

OtherDisciplines

* University Consortia & Systems

The Partners

14Modified by PMS for a “researcher view”. Source: P. Weill & M. Broadbent Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on IT, Harvard Business School Press, June 1998. Cited in Brad Wheeler, IT Governance.

Information Technology Components

Cyberinfrastructure and Community Dynamics

LocalApplications

Agile, high innovation,Often high risk

Shared and StandardIT Applications

Phase Transition

Moderately stable, Moderate to low risk

Policies, Cost-sharing, Incentives

Common CI Components

Institutional HurdlesInstitutional Hurdles

Shared IT Services

Less agile, solid, low risk

Research Group

DMZ

Campus/College

15Modified by PMS for a “researcher view”. Source: P. Weill & M. Broadbent Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on IT, Harvard Business School Press, June 1998. Cited in Brad Wheeler, IT Governance.

Information Technology Components

Cyberinfrastructure and Community Dynamics

LocalApplications

Agile, high innovation,Often high risk

Shared and StandardIT Applications

Phase Transition

Moderately stable, Moderate to low risk

Policies, Cost-sharing, Incentives

Common CI Components

Institutional HurdlesInstitutional Hurdles

Shared IT Services

Less agile, solid, low risk

TI

ME

Research Group

DMZ

Campus/College

Discussion

Formal Topics At what level should cyberinfrastructure

services be provided? What is the role of the administration?

Deans? Others? What is the appropriate campus role and

investment in cyberinfrastructure? What is the appropriate role at the

college level? At the research group level? In the multi-institutional research communities?

How do you create the right incentives for collaborative behavior?

What about cyberinfrastructure services? Which ones?

What is the role of cyberinfrastructure planning beyond the arena of research and scholarship, e.g. for education, outreach?

How do we decide what is needed and pay for it? Campus, faculty, government roles? 16

Informal TopicsWhat is the reality on your campus?Models for Success?

“CI Days”Your campus readiness?Working with faculty / administration.What works?What isn’t yet working?Who are your partners and allies?Next steps?