Growing a Research Support Ecosystem

Nine years ago, the Year of Cyberinfrastructure Final Report presented a researcher-driven vision about what they needed to support their work. Various efforts since then have worked towards implementing that vision, including Research IT, the Research Support Community, the Research Data Service, college IT groups, and others. Campus recently made a major investment towards this with the Illinois Computes project.

Having one-time funding is great step but effective use of those funds, and gaining agreement for a permanent investment, requires broad engagement of everyone involved with supporting researchers’ technology use. It requires an ecosystem, not just a community. Come learn about discussions to evolve such a research support ecosystem on campus, starting with an early working definition of "a continually evolving collection of services, resources, and people that are interconnected with one another in their support of each other and a common set of outcomes for campus researchers."

Presenters:

Chuck Thompson, Director of Illinois Computes, NCSA

Amy Hovious, Assistant Director of Campus Engagement and Innovation, Technology Services

Tracy Smith, Deputy CIO for Innovation & Technology Strategy, Office of the CIO

Heidi Imker, Director, Research Data Service, Library

Maryalice Wu, Director of Data Analytics, CITL