The Decadal Survey interest group aims to develop a decadal survey (akin to what has been done in astronomy and other fields) for research computing and data to distribute to the broader community and potentially guide joint efforts.
Initial activities included:
- Writing an early concept summary.
- Discussing and vetting of the conceptual summary with multiple stakeholder communities to determination level of support and interest.
- Initial identification of resources anticipated to fully execute such a strategy
Current activities include:
- Engaging a survey professional to advise on and assist with the creation and administration of an initial microsurvey of the RCD community
- Identification of domain science leaders to interview in-depth for their perspectives on CI requirements for their communities and research going forward. These interviews will be conducted in 2022.
- Prior to the end of 2021, distribution of the microsurvey, with analysis in 2022.
Decadal surveys provide community-consensus science and research priorities and recommendations, to federal agencies, the government, and other stakeholders. A Decadal Survey is the opportunity for a community to come together to settle on top priorities and to define a strategy to achieve them. The goal is to, and speak with a single voice on the shape of the field for the decade to come.
There has never been a decadal survey within the field known in the US as “cyberinfrastructure”. Cyberinfrastructure (“CI”) has long been seen as a “support service” of science and engineering, and more recently has broadened in its adoption across all research disciplines. However, with thousands of full time practitioners today, and substantial levels of public investment in nearly every country on the planet, this field has certainly become a profession, albeit not necessarily formally recognized as such.
Co-chairs: Ruth Marinshaw (Stanford), Thomas Cheatham (University of Utah)