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Define Functions:Short, medium and

long-term

Recap 1: What we learned

about what EarthCube can and needs to do.

Finalizing Governance Structures

Day 1

Consensus on:Primary functions of

EarthCube GovernanceClear language defining

what exactly EarthCube is.

Day 2 Day 3

Consensus on:Major components of

governance.Specific design of the leadership structure.

Consensus On:

An EarthCube Governance System that supports the

commons including:

• It’s primary functions

• It’s primary structures and details about how

those structures function

• How it integrates with existing efforts

• How to gather feedback

Selecting Governance Structures &

Incorporating Existing Structures

Define EarthCube Mission/Vision:

Clear, specific statements that

explain and clarify.

Recap 2: What governance structures already

exist and were envisioned

Developing Governance Structures

Exploring How to Vet the Governance

Model

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EarthCube Defined and Clarified

How we got here

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Roadmaps & Concept Designs

End-user workshops & Stakeholder Alignment

Test governance award

Building blocks, RCNs, and conceptual design awards

The EarthCube journeyWhite Papers & Expressions of Interest

Charrettes

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Five formalized groups with charters or guidelines

A half dozen or more workgroups with specific goals

Years of previous work to remind us what EarthCube can achieve and could focus on

Over a hundred engaged stakeholders who have informed the governance process

Two months until a fully developed plan will be shared at the All Hands Meeting

Where we’re at on Governance

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EarthCube isn’t a fresh slate – we’ve been working on this for years and doing good work

We are moving too slowly – governance was needed yesterday and it’s time to get concrete

What do you mean we’re still trying to define EarthCube? We’ve done this 10 times before (or 30!)

We shouldn’t have jumped to assuming we need these specific Councils and workgroups

What’s EarthCube? I don’t get it.

What we’re hearing

Where we are today

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Walk out of this meeting with consensus on…

EarthCube – what it is, what it can be, what we can say about it

EarthCube Governance – what is needed now and what will need to be developed over time

Our charge

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This means we need to be…

Who is EarthCube?

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End User Scientists

Cyber & Science Infrastructure

ExpertsSocietal Interests

Government, including: Elected officials

Science funding agenciesRegulatory/service agencies

Environmental resource managers

Commercial industry

Professional associations, NGOs, standards

organizations, & scholarly journals

Others, such as K-12 educators, citizen scientists,

museums & archives, and libraries

Data facilities

Cyber-infrastructure and high performance

computing experts

Software engineers

Designers/ developers of

geoscience instrumentation

Atmospheric and Space Weather,

Biologists/ Ecosystem,

Climate, Critical Zone, Computer,

Geologists, Geophysicists, Hydrologists, Information,

Oceanographers, Physical

Geographers, Polar, Social, and

others

Size of box does NOT indicate relevance

End User Feedback

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NSF GeoVision 2009

Fostering a sustainable future through a better understanding of our complex and changing planet.

SCIENCE CHALLENGES

Scientific Grand Challenges: Central themes

• Multi-disciplinary science to further understand our environment– E.g. physical, chemical, and biological processes in ocean ecosystems

• Understand, adapt to, or propose changes in scientific approach– Understand and test hypotheses and underlying controls of current

science– Improved prediction capabilities

• Better use of available data or new ways of collecting/distributing data– Chronological & Time-Series Data (distribution and analysis)– Mutli-scale modeling – beyond increasing resolution, e.g. translation of

variables, coupling between models, uncertainties– Acquisition, assimilation, and modeling in cross-cutting regions

(Integration of long-tail scientific data)

Scientific Grand Challenges: Central themes

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• Improved collaboration and coordination among disparate funded projects/programs and disciplines; including improving upon the use of existing facilities and observatories

• Communication of science (& data) to society– Improving science-based decision making in

public policy– Workforce development & “data literacy”/”data

savviness”

Specific Re-occurring Science Challenges

• Better understanding of anthropogenic activities (beyond climate change) over time– E.g. availability of drinking water, land use (coastal

development, development in hazards zones), transportation of invasive species

• Need for a 4D (Spatial & Temporal) Framework for the Earth – Multi-scale: local, regional, global

• Climate modeling & weather prediction*• Ocean modeling & biological impacts*

*possibly a function of workshops funded

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

Technical Challenges: Central themes

• Search and Access– Lack of awareness of existing tools and resources– Need for improved tools to enhance discoverability– Need for increased awareness of resources within and

outside of specific domains.– Need to incorporate legacy/dark data– Quality and formatting barriers to accessing found data

• Storage– Lack of domain specific databases

Technical Challenges: Central themes

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• Tools– Software and algorithm development need to keep pace with

research advances.– Need for Increased visualization capabilities, simpler tools– Lack of tools to facilitate capturing metadata and

documentation• Sustainability

– Need support for long term archiving and retrieval– More data producers than managers– Need for Increased training in data use and stewardship– Need for easier ways to move and share large data sets

Technical Challenges: Central themes

• Interoperability– Inconsistent/ incomplete metadata– Formats and archiving standards vary across projects, and

domains– Compliance mechanisms for providing metadata at point of

acquisition– Increased uncertainty comes w/ new sources, uncertainty

needs to be communicated• Cultural

– Lack of incentives for sharing data. Academic culture still very publication focused, need for better ways of recognizing academic merit of data.

– Need for more communication between data producers and data managers and tool builders.

– Need for different types of support for diverse users.

What is EarthCube?

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Functions related to specific audiences

Guidance to NSF on requirements for a data management plan in funding opportunities

Actively connecting to the many related efforts including ESIP and OGC.

Engagement of stakeholders (e.g. professional societies, publishers, government, commercial)

End user engagement and support, including onboarding new audiences to EarthCube

Alignment of the funded projects (interoperability, connections to end users)

Software voice and coordinating software with infrastructure

Professional development for graduate students

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Issues that need attention

IT/Legal advice associated with end-users access to resources

Mitigating the barriers created by academic culture (e.g. through awards/incentives)

How to best support data preservation

Software Academic/ Professional Career Paths

Communications – spreading the word about EarthCube across academic, private sector, and government.

Managing tensions between structure and agility

Maintaining transparency in decision-making

Creating feedback loops among different stakeholders and governance structures

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Other potential functions

Data quality and standards (leveraging what already exists)

Funding and sustainability

Knowledge management (including periodic systemic review of contributions to the EC body of knowledge)

Brokering/ facilitating cross-disciplinary connections

Facilitating data reuse

Enable new areas of research

Reflection: What functions are critical…

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…right now. We need them without delay.

…in the next year. We need to develop them soon.

…in the future, but they aren’t necessary immediately.

EarthCube Defined

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A community-driven process for the development of a cyberinfrastructure framework to understand and predict responses of the Earth as a system—from the space-atmosphere boundary to the core, including the influences of humans and ecosystems. EarthCube is an environment where stakeholders can bring together existing and new tools, models, databases, software, and collaboration spaces to facilitate the conduct of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research to transform the way we do science.

Definition?