1. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu If we build it will they come? Creating the right cyberinfrastructure for dispersed collaboration Thomas A. Finholt School of Information University of Michigan

2. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Outline n The field of dreams n Recommendations of the NSF panel n Challenges –Group –Cultural n Prospects

3. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu If we build it, they will collaborate n Data and access to data represent fundamental barriers to dispersed collaboration n Efficient movement of vast amounts of data is a prime rationale for cyberinfrastructure n Federating, visualizing and mining data are principle challenges

4. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Researchers DataFacilities n Synchronized data n Synchronized data and images n Data discovery n Automatic archiving n Simulation codes n Hybrid experiments n Teleoperation n Teleobservation n Synchronous communication n Asynchronous communication The collaboratory concept

5. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu NEESgrid The collaboratory component of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES)

6. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Bhuj, India. One of the towers of this apartment complex totally collapsed,and the central stairway leaned on another building of the complex. Photo courtesy of Dr. J.P. Bardet, University of Southern California http://geoinfo.usc.edu/gees/RecentEQ/India_Gujarat/Report/Damage/Bhuj/Bardet_Feb18.html

7. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Shake table: Nevada, Reno

8. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Reaction wall: Minnesota

9. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Centrifuge: UC Davis

10. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Wave basin: Oregon State

11. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Field structural: UCLA

12. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Field geotechnical: Texas

13. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu

14. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu NEESgird interface

15. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu NEESgrid: Simulation and observational data

16. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu NEESgrid: Simulation

17. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Cultural challenges n NEES –“earthquake engineers” vs. “IT specialists”

18. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Earthquake engineers – in Hofstede’s scheme n Power distance –Hierarchical –Bias toward seniority n Individualist –“My lab is my empire” –Solo PI model n Masculine –Adversarial –Competitive n Uncertainty avoidance –Highly skeptical of new technologies –Extremely risk adverse

19. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu IT specialists – in Hofstede’s scheme n Power distance –Egalitarian –Bias toward talent n Collectivist –Use the Internet to create worldwide communities –Project model n Masculine –Adversarial –Competitive n Uncertainty avoidance –Extremely open to new technologies –Extremely risk seeking

20. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Agreeing on terms

21. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Building it so they will come… n Dispersed teams performed poorly relative to collocated teams n Performance suffered due to coordination overhead n More successful dispersed teams adopted explicit coordination mechanisms The ideas on this slide are from an NSF report by Cummings and Kiesler (2003), available at: http://netvis.mit.edu/papers/NSF_KDI_report.pdf

22. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Use of H.323 videoconferencing UNR Demo b cd a = initial ES-TF meeting; b = ES-TF meeting time changed; c = succession to new ES-TF chair; d = change to biweekly ES-TF meetings a NSF LAN meetings

23. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Prospects n How important is data federation? –Some earthquake engineers use data from others…but they all have remote collaborators

24. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Some use data from others…

25. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu …but everyone has remote collaborators 20012002 Item MeanSDMeanSD Number of collaborations you are currently involved with 2.56.12.34.7 Number of collaborations with remote participants 1.43.21.33.6 Number of collaborators on your primary collaboration 5.77.16.17.3 Number of collaborators from prior collaborations in primary collaboration 1.63.11.73.0

26. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN www.si.umich.edu Conclusions n The cyberinfrastructure vision places great emphasis on collaboration primed by access to data n Evidence suggests that communication and coordination may be stronger determinants of collaboration success n Observation of dispersed teams shows great energy expended on ad hoc coordination n Transformation of scientific and engineering work via cyberinfrastructure may be more easily achieved by solving problems of coordination and communication