Message from the CIO, James R. Bottum:
Why you want to attend Clemson’s CI Days
Dear Colleagues:
What is cyberinfrastructure? You can probably get as many definitions as the number of people you ask. The reason? People look at CI through the lens of their own applications and needs. To some it is information technology. To others, a technology grid. And to others it is computing - data handling and storage. No matter our definition, we all use cyberinfrastructure not only in our work but in our everyday lives. It has flattened our world according to Thomas Friedman.
Our nation is involved in a comprehensive effort to build an advanced cyberinfrastructure to compete globally. And Clemson University is committed to building an advanced cyberinfrastructure to support its move into the Top 20 of the nation’s public universities.
In support of this goal, Clemson’s top leadership including the Provost, Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the Vice President for Public Service and Agriculture are jointly sponsoring a Cyberinfrastructure Days Workshop at Clemson University on May 19-21, 2008; http://www.clemson.edu/ccit/cidays/.
The workshop is part of a national series of workshops sponsored by a consortium of federal agencies and national organizations (http://cidays.org/index.php?title=Main_Page). In addition, the Clemson workshop has also begun to receive private sector support with Cisco Systems and Apple Computer being the first companies to offer their support.
Our goals are to help Clemson faculty understand the potential benefits that cyberinfrastructure can provide to their scholarship, teaching, research and outreach; to learn what national resources are available; and to see what faculty and students are already doing with cyberinfrastructure at Clemson University. The workshop will provide opportunities for collaboration and leverage of existing activities, as well as an opportunity to identify gaps in our current capabilities and services.
The leaders of Clemson University believe that faculty, staff and students will benefit from this experience and exposure to these technologies which the university has identified as critical to achieving the goals of our academic plan. The sponsors and the private sector have contributed to a seed grant fund for the advancement of academic goals as they relate to and are facilitated by cyberinfrastructure. The seed grant program will be announced at the workshop.
The Clemson CI Days program committee has put together a strong agenda with a mix of national and local speakers covering a broad range of academic areas supporting its missions. We will conclude with a set of breakout groups that will focus on next steps for capitalizing on opportunities and focusing on gaps that must be filled for Clemson to advance on its march toward buildingthe campus cyberinfrastructure of the future.
Although I have been at Clemson less than two years, I continue to be impressed with the steadfast commitment of the university leadership to its goals and their belief and support of cyberinfrastructure as a differentiator and enabler. I observed these same commitments during my prior experience as CIO at a Big 10 university and a national center located on the campus of another Big 10 university. The commitment of these institutions to cyber-related investments paid off in major ways for these institutions, and I believe that Clemson will join them as a Top 20 public university as we pursue these goals.
We hope that you can participate. We recognize that the timing of the event may not be ideal, especially for 9-month faculty, so to accommodate those who have conflicting plans; we will provide the conference via live webcasting and archived podcasts.
We look forward to hosting you at Clemson’s CI Days in May.
Best,
Jim
