EPSCoR Cyberinfrastructure Assessment Workshop

To address the problem of the "Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Gap" between EPSCoR and non- EPSCoR jurisdictions, KY NSF EPSCoR proposes hosting a workshop that will expand on the groundwork developed at previous meetings and will ultimately result in a collaborative plan/proposal for proactively addressing CI in the EPSCoRjurisdictions. NSF recognizes that developing CI is inherently necessary for the nation to balance its research portfolio and to enhance the intellectual merit offuture research. EPSCoRjurisdictions represent broad and diverse populations, which will be included as invited participants. The broader impacts of the workshop include developing an EPSCoR-wide collaborative effort to actively address and shape the jurisdictions' response to the changing nature of academic research. Twenty-seven U.S. states and territories currently participate in the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR). These jurisdictions have made impressive strides over the last several years in transforming their economies and diversifying the national research portfolio. Cyberinfrastructure represents a changing platform for enabling the future of academic research. As this technology evolves, the EPSCoR jurisdictions run the risk of being left behind technically advanced states with robust network connections and sizable investments in high-end computing. The jurisdictions eligible for NSF EPSCoR RII awards currently produce about 12% of the nation's doctorate degrees in the sciences but only leverage about 3% of the active research funding from the NSF Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI). It is evident that the EPSCoR jurisdictions need to develop a collaborative cyberinfrastructure plan that will shape their future direction and activities. The workshop would be hosted by KY NSF EPSCoR under the direction of (PI) John Connolly. KY NSF EPSCoR is located at: University of Kentucky, 325 McVey Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0045 (www.kvnsfepscor.org). A target date for the conference is October 23-24, 2007. Competitive bids from three Lexington, Kentucky hotels will be secured to ensure the most costeffective arrangements for the workshop.