Leading Cyberinfrastructure Enterprise: Value Propositions, Stakeholders, and Measurement

16 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2014

See all articles by Nicholas Berente

Nicholas Berente

University of Notre Dame

James Howison

University of Texas at Austin

John L. King

University of Michigan School of Information

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

Brandeis University

Robert Pennington

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)

Date Written: March 26, 2014

Abstract

“Cyberinfrastructure” or CI as used in this paper describes the digital infrastructure for scientific endeavor. It is at the heart of changing practices in science. The impact of CI spans energy, finance, health, humanities, information, environment, security, transportation, and other core aspects of the human condition. Many defining technologies and practices have roots in CI: the Internet, open source software, cloud computing and “big data” are but a few examples. The leadership of CI enterprises – the organizations that develop and support CI – know the value of CI, but have trouble communicating this value to others. Further, there are operational challenges around attracting, developing and retaining the workforce essential for success; serving an increasingly diverse array of customers and users; and operating in the context of a changing social contract with key sponsors and stakeholders.

An NSF-funded workshop was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on February 15-16, 2013. The workshop brought together CI enterprise leaders with organization scientists to discuss the value and operation of CI enterprise in the face of uncertain funding, ongoing change in technology and other factors, “benchmarking” with respect to peers, and similar concerns. Collaboration between CI enterprise leaders and organization scientists has potential, as in the study of the impact of organizational practices on innovation and knowledge creation. However, the interests of these two communities is seldom well aligned (Berente et al 2012). The workshop sought to explore what stakeholders from these communities need and want from collaboration. Improving understanding and communicating of CI’s value was the objective. This report explains what was learned from the workshop, and what might be done to help CI enterprise leaders.

Keywords: cyberinfrastructure, CI centers, CI enterprise, CI leadership, CI management, workforce, metrics, science executive

Suggested Citation

Berente, Nicholas and Howison, James and King, John L. and Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel and Pennington, Robert, Leading Cyberinfrastructure Enterprise: Value Propositions, Stakeholders, and Measurement (March 26, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2416247 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2416247

Nicholas Berente (Contact Author)

University of Notre Dame ( email )

Notre Dame, IN 46556
United States

James Howison

University of Texas at Austin ( email )

2317 Speedway
Austin, TX Texas 78712
United States

John L. King

University of Michigan School of Information ( email )

3447 North Quad
105 S. State St. 3447
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
United States
734-615-83526 (Phone)

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

Brandeis University ( email )

212 South Street
Waltham, MA 02453
United States

Robert Pennington

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) ( email )

605 E. Springfield Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

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