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Workshop
on Management and Models for Cyberinfrastructure
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May 14-15, 2003
Hyatt
Regency Crystal City
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Workshop Organizer:
Gary Olson
The recently-released report, Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyber-infrastructure, provides a broad vision of the future of science and engineering research. The path forward that this report envisions - extensive cyberinfrastructure to enable all levels of S&E research and education, geographic and institution independence, cross-disciplinary sharing of data and insights, and technical depth in all dimensions - truly has the potential to revolutionize all fields of research and education. In addition, the Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel offered sound advice on some of the organizational issues that NSF may face in implementing the report's recommendations. However, the various models that might be relevant to the management and oversight of large-scale, ubiquitous, comprehensive digital environments, which include distributed resources, federated facilities, people, data, information and tools, were not explored. Additional input and lessons learned are needed from key stakeholders and other principals experienced in the management and oversight of such complex enterprises.
While some governance and management strategies exist and can provide base models and a solid foundation, innovations are needed to effectively ramp up to the larger-scale scientific organizations and support environments that are envisioned for Cyberinfrastructure. This workshop will explore the various options for such innovations by bringing together current stakeholders and principals from diverse fields and enterprises that have developed large-scale scientific organizations with those who specialize in the management and governance aspects of all kinds of complex enterprises, not just scientific infrastructures.
The central objective of this workshop is to develop a list of potential organizational models for large-scale, federated, distributed scientific organizations that NSF can consider employing for cyberinfrastructure, with the benefits, detriments and possible innovations of each analyzed from several points of view including 1) governance issues, 2) oversight potential, 3) operational effectiveness, 4) economic efficiency, and 5) knowledge production potential. There are a variety of challenges related to the development and analysis of these models. The following set of challenges is one starting point in thinking about the upcoming workshop on "Management and Models for Cyberinfrastructure":
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Preservation of Current Strength. Much has been accomplished on the road to the Cyberinfrastructure vision. Current programs have developed strong institutional capabilities and human expertise that should not be lost in the implementation of the vision. On the other hand, the vision requires expanding complexity, scope and scale, which necessitate new governance and administrative strategies. How can we preserve the strengths of the present and still move aggressively on opportunities for the future?
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Collaboration in a competitive system. A great strength of scientific and engineering research is the competitive system of peer review to determine funding. Yet, the Cyberinfrastructure vision implies a major role for collaboration among the scientists and engineers who typically compete in the peer review system. What are some strategies for managing these inherent tensions and perhaps even benefiting from them in the realization of the Cyberinfrastructure vision?
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Specialization in a heterogeneous environment. Advanced research depends on extraordinary and often unique expertise, typically using custom-built infrastructures. The Cyberinfrastructure vision is predicated on widespread use of scientific infrastructures by heterogeneous communities of users across fields and across the boundaries of the private, public, and academic sectors. What are the specific tensions between special needs and standards adoption that need to be recognized and managed so that cyberinfrastructures can both scale and be considered useful in heterogeneous environments?
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Local contingencies in a global system. While the Cyberinfrastructure vision seeks to tie together researchers into a global system, various local contingencies, such as limited resources or knowledge, might impede the development or use of Cyberinfrastructure in particular settings. How can we handle differences in capacity among potential users, overcome barriers, and begin to build up capacity where needed?
Participation in the workshop is by invitation only.
 Sponsored
by the NSF Directorate for Computer & Information Science &
Engineering |