Since the publication in 2003 of the NSF's Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure, there has been much excitement about the idea that we are crossing a major threshold in technological, especially computing, capabilities that enable a new kind of infrastructure, upon which we can build new kinds of research activities, "knowledge environments" and organizations. Such a "cyberinfrastructure" (or CI) promises to federate existing distributed resources and expertise (found for example in today's collaboratories and grid networks) and initiate new generations of work environments, crossing existing disciplines and enabling immensely more productive work from distributed centers. The report insisted we were on the verge of a real revolution and the energy it generated spawned 27 reports (at last count) from other disciplines, eager to ensure they would be part of this new revolution.

The December 2007 issue of Academic Commons was devoted to the issue of Cyberinfrastructure and the Liberal Arts, examining the promises and challenges of connecting and contributing to these new capabilities from a variety of perspectives. With this meeting, we focus on two perspectives from the Academic Commons collection: how CI could affect our institutions and academic disciplines as we know them. The meeting will offer some definitions, explanations and examples of how the revolutionary world of cyberinfrastructure intersects with current-day institutions and disciplines.

Workshop Organizer/Host: David Green of Knowledge Culture and Michael Roy of Kenyon College

Date/Time:
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
9:00am - 3:00pm
Registration begins at 8:00am

 

 For more information and to register, visit  http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=1325