CI Workforce Reports

Reports from two 2017 RCN Workshops on the CI Workforce now available:

Organizing and the Cyberinfrastructure Workforce (Berente, N., Howison, J., King, J.L., Ahalt, S., Winter, S.) – Report from the RCN Workshop in Alexandria, Virginia in 2017.

Professionalization in Cyberinfrastructure (Berente, N., Howison, J., Cutcher-Gershenfeld, J., King, J.L., Barley, S., Towns, J.) – Report from the RCN Workshop in Santa Barbara, California in 2017.

 

For all reports from the RCN workshops and associated materials, see: Reports & Proposals

 

 

Workshop on Cyberinfrastructure Workforce

National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network Workshop

Theme: “Cyberinfrastructure Workforce”

Location: Alexandria, Virginia (near the new National Science Foundation location)

Date: August 14 & 15, 2017

This workshop brings together cyberinfrastructure experts and organizational experts to discuss topics around the emerging cyberinfrastructure workforce that is increasingly important to science.

Image result for alexandria virginia

For details about the workshop see:  Workshop home page

Supported by NSF RCN Award #1148996 (“RCN for Managing Collaborative Centers”).

Professionalization in Cyberinfrastructure Workshop

Workshop: Professionalization in Cyberinfrastructure

Date: January 23-24, 2017

Location: University of California, Santa Barbara

The goal of this National Science Foundation “Research Coordination Network” meeting involves bringing together cyberinfrastructure experts (HPC, software, data, infrastructure) and organizational experts to discuss professionalization and career paths for the emerging cyberinfrastructure workforce that is increasingly important to science.

Image result for university of california santa barbara

Cyberinfrastructure-related occupations can benefit from professionalization by gaining legitimacy, establishing standards of excellence, and providing career paths.  The workshop addresses and explores professionalization with organizational experts who specialize in workforce issues facing technical occupations.

For details about the workshop see:  Workshop home page

Supported by NSF RCN Award #1148996 (“RCN for Managing Collaborative Centers”).

“Thinking like a Science Executive” report for CI enterprise leaders

Leaders of cyberinfrastructure enterprises (“CI enterprises”) are under increasing pressure to think strategically and to demonstrate their impact on a diversity of stakeholders. Most CI enterprise leaders are scientists or engineers with strong project management skills. Few have been exposed to practices, frameworks, and theories from organization science that can potentially improve the effectiveness of their enterprises. In short, as CI enterprise leaders evolve into executives, they do so with minimal formal guidance.

To help in thinking about cyberinfrastructure and CI enterprises strategically, the NSF Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (ACI) funded a project to develop a “science executive” curriculum for leaders of CI enterprises, to help these leaders think strategically, align their activities with key stakeholders, and to understand and communicate their value. This document summarizes this curriculum – developed in 2013 and stemming from two planning workshops and then delivered in 2013 to 22 leaders of CI enterprises, and subsequently evaluated and amended.

The report can be downloaded here:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2881752

 

Key areas of focus include:
– the changing nature of science and the role of CI enterprises
– CI enterprise stakeholder analysis and stakeholder alignment
– value propositions of CI enterprises for stakeholders
– metrics: understanding and communicating the value of CI enterprises

 

 

Knowledge Infrastructures Workshop Dec. 7-8 at University of Washington

“Knowledge Infrastructures” Workshop

Date: December 7-8, 2015

Location: University of Washington, Seattle

UW CampusFor details on the upcoming RCN workshop:

Knowledge Infrastructures Workshop home

Our goal is to bring together North American and European researchers investigating infrastructure, with an interest in knowledge infrastructures in scientific and corporate domains. We have drawn most of our invitees from the US based “Knowledge Infrastructures” workshop and the European-based series of meetings on “Innovation in Information Infrastructures” workshop.

For a list of participants, see:

Knowledge Infrastructure Workshop Participants

Leading CI Enterprise Workshop Report Available

The second RCN Workshop was held in in 2013, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a report is available.

The report is entitled “Leading Cyberinfrastructure Enterprise: Value Propositions, Stakeholders, and Measurement” and themes include:

  • Challenges of CI enterprise leaders
  • A “Capability Maturity Model” for understanding and communicating CI enterprise value
  • Four dimensions fo CI enterprise value: science, innovation, workforce, economic
  • An example of workforce value and CI diaspora.

The authors of this report are Nick Berente (UGA), James Howison (UT-Austin), John King (Michigan), Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld (UIUC), and Rob Pennington (NCSA). The report is available on-line at SSRN:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2416247

CASC Pilot Benchmark Results Report

Berente & Rubleske just posted the first set of benchmarks for CASC on SSRN.  The report is entitled: “Academic Computing Management Benchmarks: Beta Version – A Report on a Pilot Survey of the Coalition for Academic Scientific Computing (CASC) Members” and can be downloaded here:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2313089

 

The idea was to illustrate the potential for management benchmarking to the CASC community, while laying the groundwork for the development of an annual management benchmarking survey. CASC is the “Coalition for Academic Scientific Computing” and is made up of a variety of computing organizations – from the biggest supercomputing centers to local university research computing groups and everything in between.

The next step will be to refine the items and roll out “Version 1” of the actual benchmarks in Fall 2013.

Virtual Organizations Workshop Report Available

The first VOSS Workshop was held in May 14-16, 2012, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and a report is available.

The report is entitled “Virtual Organizations as Sociotechnical Systems: Exploring How Organization Scientists and Virtual Organization Leaders Can Collaborate” and themes include:

  • Challenges to collaboration between VO practitioners and organization scientists
  • Potential relationships between VO practitioners and organization scientists
  • Avenues for collaboration going forward.

The authors of this report are Nick Berente (UGA), James Howison (UT-Austin), John King (Michigan), Kalle Lyytinen (Case), and Nancy Wilkins-Diehr (XSEDE). The report is available on-line at SSRN:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2204092

 

Leading CI Enterprise Workshop scheduled for Feb 14-16 at Michigan

“Leading Cyberinfrastructure Enterprise” Workshop

Date: February 14-16, 2013

Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

This invitation-only workshop has two  broad objectives:

  • To bring together CI leaders with organizational researchers to focus on issues associated with leading CI enterprises, including: sustaining CI organizations; understanding and communicating value propositions for CI; and making the case for CI organizations. 
  • To gather specific needs to be addressed at special seminars and “science executive education” courses for CI enterprise leaders that will be produced later in 2013 and beyond.

Click for more information.

 

Managing CI Centers Report Is Available

The report from the first “Managing Cyberinfrastructure Centers Workshop” is now available. In the report, we present an  overview of the themes we have identified in our research around managing CI centers.

The report is entitled “Managing CI Centers: An Agenda for Organizational Scholarship and Cyberinfrastructure Innovation,” and the themes include:

  • CI Centers as “Stewards” of Infrastructure Innovation
  • CI Center Leaders as Entrepreneurs
  • Resource Scarcity and Cyberinfrastructure Innovation
  • Scientific Software Ecosystems
  • Assessing CI Center Impact
  • An Agenda for Organizational Scholarship and CI Centers

The authors of the report are Nick Berente, Jennifer Claggett, and Joe Rubleske (UGA) in collaboration with James Howison (UT Austin) and Cory Knobel (UC Irvine). You can download it from SSRN:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2128872