Cyberinfrastructure: Framing the Issues on Your Campus

1. Cyberinfrastructure:Framing the Issues on Your Campus What is it? Why do we care? What do we do about it now? Peter M. SiegelCIO and Vice Provost, UC Davis Educause Western Regional Conference 1 April 2008

2. 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.

3. The Term Cyberinfrastructure (CI) • Also known as e-scienceor e-research (in other parts of the world) • Wikipedia • Since the term was coined in 2003, • Why doesn’t Micrososoft Office™ recognize the word “cyberinfrastructure”?

4. NSF Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery “Final Version” March 2007

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. “ It is important for the humanities and social sciences to participate in their [cyber-infrastructure environments’] construction” The report of the American Council of Learned Societies Commision on Cyber-infrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences

10. 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 stablebutextensible CI environment

11. 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

12. 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)

13. Researchers* Campus IT Security ID Mgmt Faculty Grad Students Network Data Center Staff National Federal Agencies Discipline Groups National OGF International Libraries Regional Educational Organizations Publishers International Regional Security/ Access Coordinators* Collections Organizations* Policy*/ Leadership*/ Funding Network Providers* Discipline Support Computation Storage National Medicine Physical Science International Regional Supercomputer Sites* Other Disciplines Software Development Grid Orgs* Discipline Groups* Biological Science. Cyberinfrastructure Players The Partners Russ Hobby, Internet2 * University Consortia & Systems

14. Cyberinfrastructure and Community Dynamics Agile, high innovation, Often high risk Research Group Local Applications Phase Transition DMZ Shared and Standard Moderately stable, Moderate to low risk IT Applications Campus/College Policies, Cost-sharing, Incentives Shared IT Services Institutional Hurdles Less agile, solid, low risk Information Technology Components Common CI Components Modified 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.

15. Cyberinfrastructure and Community Dynamics Agile, high innovation, Often high risk Research Group Local TIME Applications Phase Transition DMZ Shared and Standard Moderately stable, Moderate to low risk IT Applications Campus/College Policies, Cost-sharing, Incentives Shared IT Services Institutional Hurdles Less agile, solid, low risk Information Technology Components Common CI Components Modified 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.

16. Discussion Informal Topics • What 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? 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?