EDUCAUSE | Collaboration, High-Performance Computing, and Presentations/Speeches

Cyberinfrastructure and Emerging Scientific Data and Knowledge Systems

drupal — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:38:31 -0600

Scientific progress and discovery increasingly hinge upon analysis of a wide variety of data sources. With these datasets growing ever larger and more complex, we are increasingly challenged in the areas of management, preservation, integration, and access to high-level services that facilitate inquiry and hypothesis testing. We are also seeing an increase in geographically distributed resources. For science to advance, we must develop new knowledge-based environments that allow researchers to easily query and analyze vast holdings of diverse, distributed data. NCAR has joined a number of collaborations aimed at addressing critical science and societal challenges, ranging from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Polar Year, regional climate modeling, solar-terrestrial science, digital preservation, and more. We will survey these areas, discuss some of the challenges we face in developing effective cyberinfrastructure, and briefly touch on the important migration towards "science gateways" and knowledge-based environments.

The University in a Networked Economy and Society

ckeller — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:14:50 -0500

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 11-13, 2007, Boulder, Colorado. When Yochai Benkler's book, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, came out, Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig said, "This is -- by far -- the most important and powerful book written in the fields that matter most to me in the last ten years. If there is one book you read this year, it should be this." This work examines the ways in which information technology permits extensive forms of collaboration that may have transformative consequences for economy and society. Benkler's presentation outlines the characteristics of the networked information economy and the roles of collaboration and commons-based production of information, knowledge, and culture, and it suggests avenues to apply these broad trends to education and education-related policy.

The Commons: A Concept to Stimulate Interdisciplinary Work

drupal — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:30:45 -0600

Commons are physical and virtual spaces designed for research collaboration. They bring back the best of the computing environment of the past and interject modern computing tools to stimulate solutions to complex, interdisciplinary problems. This presentation will describe Kansas State University's efforts in creating humanities and geospatial commons.

IT Collaboration

drupal — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:52:01 -0500

Presentation at the Fifth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 28-30, 2006, Coronado, California. This presentation describes the study objectives, scope, focus, and analytical framework for ECAR's forthcoming study of IT collaboration.

Infrastructure and Practices to Facilitate Research Collaboration

drupal — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 12:49:36 -0500

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. The potential for IT to take research to new levels depends on our ability to acquire, manipulate, store, render, visualize, archive, and transport unimaginable amounts of data. Realizing this potential also depends on human factors, especially the capacity of researchers from different disciplines to assemble virtually and face-to-face to interpret findings from a variety of perspectives. Ferri manages the new Synthesis Center at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and shares insights about how environments there are being organized to foster dialogue across disciplines.

Next Generation Collaboration

drupal — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:34:09 -0500

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. This talk focuses on the future role of higher education research in narrowing the innovation gap. Examples and demonstrations of innovations under development through public and private collaborations are presented.

Managing Virtual Research Collaboration Effectively

drupal — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:22:10 -0500

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. Scientific and engineering research increasingly involves collaboration across multiple organizations. Technological advances have made such cross-boundary projects possible, yet they can carry high coordination costs. This talk discusses coordination mechanisms that can bring researchers together (physically and virtually) to reduce the potentially negative impact of collaborations involving multiple universities.

Pivot Points: Setting the Scenario for the IT Future

drupal — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:12:46 -0500

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. This presentation and discussion explore the pivot points around which transition in the roles of, and opportunities for, IT in colleges and universities are taking place. It addresses such questions as: How are changes in the national research agenda affecting IT? How do innovations in research methods interact with those in IT? Can (or should) IT units keep a distance from interdisciplinary tensions and collaborations within their institutions? And how can faculty research needs be tapped?

The Technical and Societal Implications of Networking: A Personal Perspective

drupal — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 09:35:28 -0500

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. As early as 1996, Farber advised us about the internationalization of networks, saying that "photons have neither morals nor visas." In this talk, Farber shares his thoughts on the state of networking and on complex social issues such as convergence and internationalization and the trade-offs between safety and liberty in the network context.