Chris L. Greer, Program Manager, NSFFederation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)

January 3-5, 2007, Portland, OR

Outline

• NSF and Cyberinfrastructure

• Characteristics of the Digital Age

• NSF Data Strategic Vision

• Role of Universities, Academic Libraries, and Professional Associations

NationalAeronautic and Space

Administration

EnvironmentalProtection

Agency

Smithsonian Institution

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Other agencies

Commerce

Science Advisor

Other boards, councils, etc.

U.S. President

Independent Agencies

Major Departments

Science AdvisorOffice of Science and

Technology Policy

Office of Management and Budget

Agriculture Health and Human Services

Interior Homeland Security

Defense Energy

NSF Act of 1950

• “To promote the progress of science…”

• Encourage & develop a national policy for the promotion of basic research and education in the math, physical, medical,biological, engineering and other sciences

• Initiate & support basic scientific research in the sciences

Research Directorates

• Biological Sciences• Computer & Info. Science & Eng.• Education & Human Resources• Engineering• Geosciences• Mathematical & Physical Sciences• Social, Behaviorial & Econ. Sciences

Offices

• CyberInfrastructure

• Integrative Activities

• Polar Programs

• International Science and Engineering

National Science Foundation Director

Deputy Director

NationalScience Board

… is the organized aggregate of technologies that enable us to

access and integrate today’s information technology resources

—data and storage, computation, communication,

visualization, networking, scientific instruments, expertise—to

facilitate science and engineering goals.

- Fran Berman, Director, SDSC

Cyberinfrastructure …

Learning &Learning &Workforce Workforce

DevelopmentDevelopment

CI Vision :4 Interrelated Perspectives

Collaboratories, Collaboratories, Observatories &Observatories &Virtual Virtual OrganizationsOrganizations

Data, Data Analysis &

Visualization

High PerformanceComputing

New Modes of InvestigationNew Modes of Investigation

The conduct of science and engineering The conduct of science and engineering is changing and evolving. This is due, in large is changing and evolving. This is due, in large part, to the expansion of networked part, to the expansion of networked cyberinfrastructure …cyberinfrastructure …

NSF Strategic Plan 2006-2011NSF Strategic Plan 2006-2011

0510

YBP (Thousands)

Stone

Copper

Bronze

Iron

Industrial

Digital

Technology and the Course of

Human History

x

yz

x

yz

Time t

x

yz

t

x

yz

x

yz

t

t

Before the Digital Age:A World Constrained to 4 Dimensions

x

yz x

yz

x

yz

x

yz

t

x

yz

t

x

yz

x

yz

Time t

x

yz

t

x

yz

x

yz

t

t

CI

5thDimension

Opening a 5th dimension through cyberinfrastructure is the

revolutionary force of the digital age …

The world is flat-Thomas Friedman

•More room for innovationMore room for innovation•New spaces for learning and discoveryNew spaces for learning and discovery•Expanded opportunities for collaboration and interactionExpanded opportunities for collaboration and interaction•Greater capabilities for research and educationGreater capabilities for research and education

The flat world is expanding-Anonymous OCI program director

Opening a 5th dimension through cyberinfrastructure is the

revolutionary force of the digital age …

Individuals, groups, Individuals, groups,

organizations, and nations organizations, and nations

that don’t embrace the 5that don’t embrace the 5thth

dimension will fall behind dimension will fall behind

in the digital agein the digital age

Characteristics of a 5D World:(in priority order)

1. Time and place are no barriers to participation and interaction

2. Access is open to specialists and non-specialists alike

3. Information is the primary driver for progress

4. New capabilities, resources, and mechanisms -> new possibilities

“Sometime in the 2010s, if all goes well, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will start to bring a vision of the heavens to Earth. Suspended between its vast mirrors will be a three billion-pixel sensor array, which on a clear winter night will produce 30 terabytes of data. In less than a week this remarkable telescope will map the whole night sky …. And then the next week it will do the same again … building up a database of billions of objects and millions of billions of bytes.”

Nature 440:383

DataFed

The data from surface-based air pollution monitoring networks now provides routinely high grade, spatio-temporal and chemical patterns throughout the US for PM25 and ozone. Satellite sensors … now provide real-time snapshots which depict the pattern of haze, smoke and dust in stunning detail. The ‘terabytes’ of data from these surface and remote sensors can now be stored, processed and delivered in near real time.

Husar, R.; Poirot, R. Environmental Manager 2005, Sep.,39-41

Information Big Bang

5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 FUTURE

CLAY

PAPYRUSPAPYRUS

TIME (years before present)

INF

OR

MA

TIO

N T

RA

NS

PO

RT

INF

OR

MA

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NT

EG

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INFORMATION VOLUME

STONE

INFORMATION ERASINFORMATION ERAS

© 2005 EvREsearch LTD© 2005 EvREsearch LTD

FUTURE010002000300040005000PAST

PAPERPAPER

DIGITALDIGITAL

Source: Paul Berkman

The Fragility of Memory in a Digital Age

Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital InformationCommission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group

“In 1964, the first electronic mail message was sent from either MIT, the Carnegie Institute, or Cambridge University. The message does not survive, however, and so there is no documentary record to determine which group sent the pathbreaking message.”

NSF Draft Strategic Plan for Data, Data Analysis, and

Visualization

www.nsf.gov/od/oci/ci-v7.pdf

Chapter 3

Data Strategic Planning Group

• Sylvia Spengler (Chair)

• Deborah Crawford• Cheryl Eavey• James French• Chris Greer

• Elizabeth Lyons• David Lightfoot• Fillia Makedon• Jose Munoz• Dan Newlon• Nigel Sharp

Vision:

“… a vision in which science and engineering

digital data are routinely deposited in well-

documented form, are regularly and easily

consulted and analyzed by specialists and non-

specialists alike, are openly accessible while

suitably protected, and are reliably preserved.”

ESIP Vision

• The Federation and … the Foundation for Earth Science are working to make observation information relating to a broad spectrum of Earth science issues more available and understandable to researchers, educators, policy makers and the general public.

NSF Goals:

• To catalyze the development of a system of science and engineering data collections that is open, extensible and evolvable.

• To support development of a new generation of tools and services facilitating data acquisition, mining, integration, analysis, and visualization.

Federal

State

Local

International

Non-profit

College

University

USER

Commercial

National DigitalData

Framework

User-centric, Multilevel, Nimble, Sustainable, Reliable

ESIPThe Federation of Earth Science Information

Partners is a unique consortium of more than 90 organizations [including] NASA, NOAA and USGS data centers, research universities, government research laboratories, supercomputing facilities, education resource providers, information technology innovators, nonprofit organizations and commercial enterprises.

Source: www.esipfed.org

NSF Principles:

•Data generated with NSF funding will be accessible and reliably preserved

•Research/education opportunities determine investment priorities

•Broad community engagement is necessary in reviewing and prioritizing data activities

Principles (cont’d):

•Data is only useful if it can be found, understood, and analyzed

•Legitimate privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property rights must be protected

•International, interagency, and public-private partnerships are essential

Plan of Action

• NSF Plan of Action• Coherent Organizational Framework

– Diversity of approaches– Communities of practice– Dynamic and evolving system

• Flexible Technological Architecture

– Data analysis and visualization tools

– Layered capabilities

– Metadata , standards

• Coherent Policies– Transparent policy frameworks

– Data management plans

– Interagency, international coop/coord

Plan of Action: A. Coherent Organizational Framework

• Diversity of approaches

• Communities of practice

• Community proxy roles of collections

• Dynamic and evolving system

Plan of Action:

B. Flexible Technological Architecture

• Layered capabilities

• Metadata

• Data analysis and visualization tools

• Promoting use and stability of standards

Plan of Action:C. Coherent Data Policies

• Transparent policy frameworks

• Data management plans

• Interagency coordination

• International cooperation

Summary Strategic plan seeks to:

• Promote a change in culture

• Catalyze development of a national digital data framework

• Support new generations of tools, services, and capabilities

“If we are effectively to preserve for future generations the …. corpus of information in digital form that represents our cultural record, we need … to commit ourselves technically, legally, economically, and organizationally to the full dimensions of the task.”

Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information, 1996Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group

A Challenge for Society

The Universities

“Ever since their inception, universities have been occupied with the fundamental elements of what we now call 'knowledge management', i.e. the creation, collection, preservation and dissemination of knowledge.”

Andre Oesterlinck, Knowledge Management in

Post-Secondary Education: Universities

The Academic Libraries

“It is to the research library community that others will look for the preservation of … digital assets, as they have looked to us in the past for reliable, long-term access to the ‘traditional’ resources and products of research and scholarship.”

Association of Research Libraries (ARL)Strategic Plan 2005-2009

Domain Science

Computer Science

Cyberinfra-structure

Archival Sciences

Lib/Info Sciences

ICenter

Professional Associations

• Promote a change in culture

• Enable the development, evolution, and effective use of standards

• Catalyze new partnerships

• And ……

The voice of the community

NSF’s Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery:

www.nsf.gov/od/oci/ci-v7.pdf