earthcube governance plenary virtual workshop april 11 & 17, 2012

EarthCube Governance Plenary Virtual

WorkshopApril 11 & 17, 2012

Agenda

1. Welcome2. Purpose and Scope of the Governance

Roadmap Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other

Communities8. Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises9. 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. Purpose2. Communication3. Challenges4. Requirements5. Status

6. Solutions7. Process8. Timeline9. Management10. 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. Welcome2. Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap

Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities8. Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises9. Community Discussion

Background and Research on Governance

Genevieve Pearthree & Lee AllisonArizona 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

Decision IT 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 BowringCollege 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 •

http://earthcube.ning.com

http://earthcube.ning.com/

Agenda


Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises8. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities9. Community Discussion

Governance Examples

Mohan RamamurthyUnidata

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

Organization

Plan StandardsProgram

Do

BoardStaff

Committees

Compliance

& Testing

Check

Interoperability

Program

Evolve

Testbeds

Domain WGsStandards WGs

ArchitectureBoard

Outreachand 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 ModelCategory Program Governance

Funding ModelDomain Science Unidata, IRIS, IEDA Core Grant

UCAR, CUAHSI Membership Fee

IT Groups W3C Membership Fee

Apache Foundation(donations)

Hybrid Groups OGC

ESIP Federation

Membership Fee, Grants for Interoperability projects Grants

DataONE Core Grant

Large Facilities OOI, EarthScope, NEON, XSEDE Core Grant

Agenda

1. Welcome2. Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities8. Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises9. Community Discussion

Governance Functions

Ilya ZaslavskySDSC/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

Broader Impacts & Community Linkages 51

Agenda

1. Welcome2. Purpose and Scope of the Governance Roadmap Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other Communities8. Governance Use Cases/Mental Exercises9. Community Discussion


Broader Impacts & Community

Kerstin LehnertIntegrated Earth Data Applications IEDA

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University


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


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


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


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.”


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)


Governance Roadmap: Relevant Factors

• Science engagement across disciplines• Linking science and technology

communities• International coordination• Industry coordination• Coordination among government agencies• General outreach


The driving vision must be led by the scientists.

• define requirements• provide feedback• evaluate performance• implement new practices

Users!Users!Users!

Broader 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 2008 .


ManyCommunities

• individuals• professional societies• federations, unions• programs • standards organizations• agencies• industry• ….

technical organizational

politicaldi

scip

linar

y


Governance & Leadership

From Report of the ESSI Summit in Rome, March 2008(C. Barton, P. Fox)

+ ESIP+ OGC+ …


How?

• Part of governance structure• Formal partnerships• Informal interaction• Outreach & Education


Developing the Roadmap

ScientistsSocieties

FederationsProgramsAgenciesIndustry

ChartCommunicate

CoordinateContract

CollaborateConverge

Seek Consensus

CapabilitiesPriorities

TechnologyOrganization

PoliciesPracticesFunding

need to for

Agenda


Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other


Governance unknowns, potential issues, challenges, and

general items that will come up in governance

Hannes E. LeetaruIllinois State Geological

SurveyUniversity 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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

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


Workshop3. Background and Research on Governance4. How We Jumpstart the Planning Process5. Governance Examples6. What are Governance Functions? 7. Broader Impacts & Linkages to Other


Community Discussion

Erin Robinson, moderatorESIP

earthcube governance plenary virtual workshop april 11 & 17, 2012

Documents

governance slide

governance examples

governance functions

governance roadmap workshop

governance roadmap scope

review governance approaches

various governance models

ogc slide