EarthCube Governance Plenary Virtual Workshop April 11 & 17, 2012

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Governance Roadmap Workgroup Goals Lee Allison, Arizona Geological Survey David Arctur, OGC

EQb Governance Workshop Steering Committee Lee Allison – AZGS Tim Ahern - IRIS David Arctur - OGC Jim Bowring – College Of Charleston Gary Crane - SURA Geoffrey Fox - IU Hannes Leetaru - ISGS Kerstin Lehnert -LDEO Mohan Ramamurthy - Unidata Erin Robinson -ESIP Ilya Zaslavsky - SDSC Leaders of EarthCube White Papers and Expressions of Interest that address governance

Introduction Goal of Governance Roadmap Work Group – Develop a roadmap for building the governance framework Compile ideas from research and community input Determine what important questions need to be asked Evaluate organizational use cases and mental exercises – NOT to develop governance framework itself

Introduction (cont’d) NSF Roadmap Guidance - 10 points, path forward Governance assumptions (existing practices that we will build on) Governance roadmap principles Scope (what is included, what isn’t)

We are here

EarthCube Timeline

NSF Guidance – 10 Points 1. Purpose 2. Communication 3. Challenges 4. Requirements 5. Status 6. Solutions 7. Process 8. Timeline 9. Management 10. Risks

Governance Assumptions What governance are we addressing? – Operational, scientific, and strategic Existing practices that we will build on: – Communication and coordination across distinct communities – Some dynamics are outside our control – Each group keeps its mandates – Must be built on existing practices

Governance Roadmap Principles Community led, autonomous Open, transparent, inclusive approach Consensus oriented, but with pragmatic approach to decision making (not always/only consensus) Balanced representation from full range of participants

Governance Roadmap Scope What’s in – Suggestions for bridging communities – Key issues and lessons learned from other communities’ governance approaches What’s not in – Technology content – Specific governance structures

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Background and Research on Governance Genevieve Pearthree & Lee Allison Arizona Geological Survey

Review governance approaches and background philosophies – Describe various governance models – How are governance structures alike and different in theory, practice, and implementation? – Which models work for best for which types of organizations? – How do governance structures facilitate achievement of overall goals? – What challenges in governance have organizations faced in the past? Purpose

Project Mohole IT Governance by Weill & Ross (2004) NSF EarthCube White Papers – Governance (12 papers) – Design (25 papers) World Wide Web Consortium Initial Research and Case Studies

Notes and summaries of all material reviewed Synthesis of most important points from each source – PowerPoint presentations Initial review of literature presented at Governance Steering Committee meeting, April 4 – 5, 2012 Additional presentations will be given in topical breakout webinars – To be included as appendices in EarthCube Governance Roadmap All documentation is posted on EarthCube Ning site Process

Master references list – Working Document – Includes references cited by NSF EarthCube White Papers and additional materials suggested by community Summaries, PowerPoint presentations and reference lists posted on EarthCube Ning site – Promote transparency and community feedback Process (cont’d)

Need to consider the purpose and definition of success – What are the overall objectives of EarthCube? Currently undefined Governance systems must consider a discussion of overall objectives – What is the definition of EarthCube success? Who is responsible for creating and updating this definition? Recurring Themes in Research: Success

Recurring Themes in Research: Leadership Leadership structure – Should leadership be centralized or decentralized? – What decisions must be made? – How should decisions be made? – Who has the ultimate authority to make decisions and resolve disputes?

Who is involved in the EarthCube community? – How can disparate communities within geosciences and IT be brought together to foster an environment of collaboration and trust? – What does it mean to be a community member? Access to data, role in decision-making, ability to make contributions, etc. – How can EarthCube meet the evolving needs of its community? Recurring Themes in Research: Community

How do cyberinfrastructure needs determine governance systems and vice- versa? Sustainability – How can governance help assure EarthCube continuation and stability while maintaining flexibility as new technologies, business models, and user needs emerge? Recurring Theme in Research: Design & Sustainability

DecisionIT principles IT architecture IT infrastructure strategies Application needs IT investment Archetype Domain monarchy IT monarchy Federal Duopoly Feudal Anarchy Governance as a system Weill & Ross, 2004

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Jumpstarting the Planning Process Jim Bowring College of Charleston

Inspiration If you don't have a plan, You can't change it !

What is a Plan ?

What do Plans have in Common? Written Beginning and end Changeable Measurable

How to Start ?

Practical Jumpstart Solutions Plenary → informed community Focus Group → summary document Town Hall → roadmap iterations

Potential Focus Groups Software Governance Governance Standing Committee, i.e. what is the successor to this series of workshops? Mental Exercises Governance Principles What is Governance? – to clarify, management versus organization Broader Impacts and Participation – Possibly focus on three distinct groups of Industry, International, and Government

Collaborate ! Open and transparent Use collaboration tools Post EVERYTHING to

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 8.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 9.Community Discussion

Governance Examples Mohan Ramamurthy Unidata

Governance Examples Domain Science Groups (e.g. IRIS, Unidata, UCAR, CUAHSI, IEDA) IT Groups (e.g. W3C, XSEDE, Apache, and Slashdot) Hybrid Domain/IT Groups (e.g. ESIP, OGC, DataONE) Large Facilities (e.g. OOI, EarthScope, NEON)

IRIS – US Array

CUAHSI

Unidata Policy Committee (Standing Committee) Users Committee (Standing Committee Implementation Working Group (early days of the program) Steering Committees (Ad-hoc committees)

Open Geospatial Consortium CITE SC TeamEngine OGC OrganizationPlan Standards ProgramDo Board StaffCommittees Compliance & TestingCheck Interoperability ProgramEvolve Testbeds Domain WGs Standards WGs ArchitectureBoard Outreach and Community Adoption Program (OCAP) Marketing Training Comm Experiments Pilots

Single PI, 5 Centers, and 12 partnering organizations High-Performance Computing and Storage Services High-Performance Remote Visualization and Data Analysis Services Integrating Services Coordination and Management Service Technology Audit and Insertion Service Advanced User Support Service Training, Education and Outreach Service Governance – XSEDE Advisory Board – User Advisory Committee – Service Providers Forum

Sustainability/Funding Model CategoryProgramGovernance Funding Model Domain ScienceUnidata, IRIS, IEDACore Grant UCAR, CUAHSIMembership Fee IT GroupsW3CMembership Fee ApacheFoundation(dona tions) Hybrid GroupsOGC ESIP Federation Membership Fee, Grants for Interoperability projects Grants DataONECore Grant Large FacilitiesOOI, EarthScope, NEON, XSEDECore Grant

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Governance Functions Ilya Zaslavsky SDSC/UCSD + EarthCube Cross-Domain Interop Team

EarthCube as a System of Systems Several governance models? – For different purpose, different types of funding, different time horizons, different stakeholders, metrics  different functions What are research scenarios and use cases that the EarthCube governance model should enable, and what is the process for expanding them? What is the scope of EarthCube governance, and what is the process for determining and evolving it? – For individual research sites – For disciplinary data systems and large facilities – For managing cross-disciplinary interactions

Vision of a reference architecture for EarthCube as is an integrated information system that includes research observatories generating large volumes of observations, domain systems that publish the data according to community conventions about data models, vocabularies and protocols, and cross-domain knowledge layer that includes federated catalogs, normalized and curated datasets integrating data from domain systems and observatories, vocabulary cross-walks, as well as social networking, governance and compute infrastructure.

Functions - 1 Policy formulation (e.g. wrt open source) and cost control Conflict resolution and arbitration – at the boundaries of EarthCube subsystems, e.g. – When new scientific data types are developed and propagate to domain systems and to the knowledge integration layer – When sensors need to be configured or tuned from another – Data life cycle coordination across domains

Functions - 2 Standardization of services and encodings Cross-domain interoperability management – For domain catalogs, vocabularies, services, information models  federated catalogs, vocabulary cross-walks, standard services, consensus information model profiles Long-term preservation/curation/lifecycle management Reference architecture management and evolution Service-level agreements and other legal arrangements

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion 51Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Broader Impacts & Community Kerstin Lehnert Integrated Earth Data Applications IEDA Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University 52Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

EarthCube’s Broad Impact transform research & education in the geosciences: “Informatics as the fourth pillar of the scientific method.” advance understanding & solution of societal challenges democratize access to research resources data, tools, computing create a new workforce 53Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

EarthCube’s Stakeholders Users – domain scientists, educators, students, industry, decision-makers, general public, … Practitioners – IT researchers, IT developers, data managers, managers of data, systems, & services Funders – agencies, industry 54Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

EarthCube: A CI Community “At the heart of the cyberinfrastructure vision is the development of a cultural community that supports peer-to-peer collaboration and new modes of education based upon broad and open access to leadership computing; data and information resources; online instruments and observatories; and visualization and collaboration services.” Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr. Director of the US National Science Foundation 55Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

from: ”History & Theory of Infrastructure: Lessons for the New Scientific Cyberinfrastructures” (P. N. Edwards et al., January 2007) Insights from Social Science “Robust cyberinfrastructure will develop only when social, organizational, and cultural issues are resolved in tandem with the creation of technology-based services.” 56Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Linkages Chart (discover & map what is happening) Communicate Coordinate Contract (use the expertise & products of others) Collaborate Converge (reduce complexity & proliferation) Seek Consensus From Report of the ESSI Summit in Rome, March 2008 (C. Barton, P. Fox) 57Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Governance Roadmap: Relevant Factors Science engagement across disciplines Linking science and technology communities International coordination Industry coordination Coordination among government agencies General outreach 58Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

The driving vision must be led by the scientists. define requirements provide feedback evaluate performance implement new practices Users! 59Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Engaging the Long Tail 60 Heidorn, P. Bryan (2008). Shedding Light on the Dark Data in the Long Tail of Science. Library Trends 57(2) Fall Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Many Communities individuals professional societies federations, unions programs standards organizations agencies industry …. technical organizational political disciplinary 61Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Governance & Leadership From Report of the ESSI Summit in Rome, March 2008 (C. Barton, P. Fox) + ESIP + OGC + … + ESIP + OGC + … 62Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

How? Part of governance structure Formal partnerships Informal interaction Outreach & Education 63Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Developing the Roadmap Scientists Societies Federations Programs Agencies Industry Scientists Societies Federations Programs Agencies Industry Chart Communicate Coordinate Contract Collaborate Converge Seek Consensus Capabilities Priorities Technology Organization Policies Practices Funding Capabilities Priorities Technology Organization Policies Practices Funding need to for 64Broader Impacts & Community Linkages

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Governance unknowns, potential issues, challenges, and general items that will come up in governance Hannes E. Leetaru Illinois State Geological Survey University of Illinois

Use Cases for Governance How should we deal with new types of data? Or new paradigms of data management, discovery, publishing? How would you coordinate with resources under someone else's control? How might we deal with compliance? Different levels of compliance? Different levels of capabilities?

Issues to Avoid: Governance for Now not Future Conservative or short-term thinking – “No one will want to integrate large amounts of data together…They would only be interested in subsets” vs. LSST onsite cluster – We should avoid limiting our outcomes by thinking of one governance model forever. Governance will be different as EarthCube evolves How could the governance process enable its own evolution? Governance must be for now and the future

Governance may change as EarthCube evolves We currently have a loosely federated to feudal system with our geoscience data. – Initial governance model must take that into consideration As with most bureaucracies, as time goes on there could be a push to centralize – This may be either good or bad – The risk is the domain specialists lose control – The benefit is cohesive archiving standards

Issues to Avoid: Group Think Happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives It is easy for a dominant idea to become the standard for governance

Issues to Avoid: Group Think (Cont’d) Consensus-driven decisions are the result of the following practices of group thinking: Incomplete survey of alternatives Incomplete survey of objectives Failure to examine risks of preferred choice Failure to reevaluate previously rejected alternatives Poor information search Selection bias in collecting information Failure to work out contingency plans

Road Map Considerations: Cross-Domain Coordination Avoiding or mitigating the tyranny of the big over the small – How do we ensure all have equal voice? Concerns of the Domain Specialists balanced with the capabilities of the Information Technologists

Agenda 1.Welcome 2.Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop 3.Background and Research on Governance 4.How We Jumpstart the Planning Process 5.Governance Examples 6.What are Governance Functions? 7.Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities 8.Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises 9.Community Discussion

Community Discussion Erin Robinson, moderator ESIP