Building a Cyberinfrastructure for the Biological Sciences (CIBIO)

生物科学理事会（BIO AC）咨询委员会的21世纪生物学小组委员会举行了为期两天的研讨会，以解决目前的状况，预测潜力，并就NSF Bio如何最好地使生物科学界能够利用现代信息技术的非凡影响，这将导致更有效，为研究和教育提供富有成效的环境。这是通过一个新的，底层的，NSF驱动的基础设施来实现的，该基础设施赋予人们，他们的想法和他们对发现工具的使用。在计算机和信息科学与工程（特别是由CISE资助）的所有性能领域中，基础和应用领域的许多进步都是非凡的。经过几十年的硬件和软件的指数级发展，信息技术已经成为我们经济、科学、工业和社会的一个内在组成部分。无处不在、无处不在、嵌入式、无缝可用的技术不仅已成为国家工业中最重要的齿轮，而且也是全球研究和开发、商业和通信的中心齿轮。相应地，通过整合和加速这些组件，NSF可以利用这些指数趋势的融合，这些趋势被认为在适用性和重要性方面已经通过了一个门槛，以创建一个全面的基础，即网络基础设施（CI），在此基础上建立21世纪的科学，技术和教育。CI被认为是科学、技术和商业的变革，就像古滕贝格发明印刷机对社会的变革一样，为不断增长的识字率、不断增长的人口的公共对话以及最终的民主奠定了基础。传播和信息承诺同样开放扫盲、公共对话和民主奖励。由于网格服务、数据集成和现代信息技术的革命，再加上生物学研究方法的出现，CI确实非常适合家庭手工业，即生物学，这种方法集中在系统层面，即综合、合成和预测，或者NSF称之为21世纪世纪生物学。21世纪世纪生物学小组委员会的BIO AC研讨会讨论了BIO在NSF结构中的参与和作用的关键问题，并在研讨会结束时向BIO提供了一份简短的白色文件，沿着演示材料，其中包含相关的政策建议。研讨会上概述了让整个生物科学界参与并赋予其权力的进一步步骤。NSF考虑的两个审查标准在本提案中深深交织在一起。也就是说，该活动的内在科学价值和拟议活动对国家基础设施的潜在贡献，以及NSF除了支持最佳研究本身之外的其他相关目标，都充分体现在研讨会的成果中。传播和信息不仅在范围上是国际性的，而且，传播和信息的实施将需要打破数字鸿沟。没有一级研究机构的大学和州已经在准备提案，并致力于实施CI，以促进他们的科学。CI for BIO是实现信息和资源访问民主化的理想选择，并满足整个社区的需求。社区学院，少数民族服务机构，如部落学院，西班牙裔机构，研究和教育学院，历史上的黑人学院和大学都将有更多的机会参与。网络已经为所有人提供了新的途径。CI基础设施将使所有科学家和学生能够以许多新的方式为国家的研究工作做出贡献，并将建立增强的培训模式。很难找到一项活动能够在外联和社会影响方面作出更大贡献。

The 21st Century Biology subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for the Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO AC) held a two day workshop to address the current status, anticipate the potential, and provide guidance to the Directorate on how NSF Bio can best empower the biological sciences community to utilize the extraordinary impact of modern information technology, which will lead to a more effective, productive environment for research and education. This is made possible by a new, underlying, NSF-driven, infrastructure empowering people, their ideas and their use of tools for discovery. The numerous advances in the basic and applied fields, within all performance domains, for computer and information science and engineering (notably, funded by CISE) have been extraordinary. After several decades of exponential advances in hardware and software, information technology has become an intrinsic component of our economy, our sciences, our industry, and our society. The pervasive, ubiquitous, embedded, seamlessly available technology not only has become the singular most important cog in the Nation's industry, but also the central cog in world wide research and development, commerce and communication. Correspondingly, by consolidating and accelerating the components, NSF can exploit the convergence of these exponential trends, which are said collectively to have passed a threshold in applicability and importance, to create a comprehensive foundation, a cyberinfrastructure (CI), on which to build the Science, Technology and Education of the 21st Century. CI is perceived as being as transformational for science, technology and commerce as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press was for society, setting the stage for growing literacy, public dialogue for growing populations, and ultimately, democracy. CI promises the same open access to literacy, public dialogue and democratic rewards. CI is indeed ideally suited for the cottage industry that is biology, due to the revolution in grid services, data integration, and modern information technology, coupled with the advent of a biological research approach, focused at a systems level, that is integrative, synthetic and predictive, or what NSF calls 21st Century Biology. The BIO AC Workshop of the 21st Century Biology subcommittee addressed the key questions for BIO's involvement and role within the NSF fabric, and at the conclusion of the workshop provided BIO with a short white paper, along with presentation material, containing relevant policy advice. Further steps to involve and empower the full biological sciences community were outlined at the workshop.The two review criteria for consideration by NSF are deeply intertwined in this proposal. That is, the intrinsic scientific merit of the activity and the potential contribution arising from the proposed activity to the Nation's infrastructure, and other related goals of NSF beyond supporting the best research per se, are fully coupled in the outcome of the workshop. Not only is CI international in scope, but also, the implementation of CI will require breaking down the digital divide. Already, the universities and states without tier 1 research institutions are preparing proposals and working on implementing CI to enable their science. CI for BIO is ideal in democratizing access to information and resources, and meeting the needs of the entire community. Community Colleges, Minority Serving Institutions such as Tribal Colleges, Hispanic Institutions, Colleges for Research and Education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities will all have increased opportunities to participate. The web has already provided novel access to all. CI infrastructure will empower many new ways in which all scientists, and students, will be able to contribute to the Nation's research endeavors, and enhanced modes of training will be established. It would be hard to find an activity that will contribute more in terms of outreach and also of societal impact.