Cyberinfrastructure, Innovation, and University Policy

Room 100

Keck Center of National Academies

 

 

Feb 20

 

6:00 – 8:00 Reception – First Floor Atrium

 

Feb 21

 

7:30 Breakfast in Refectory  

 

9:00 Welcome and opening address: Charles M. Vest, National Academy of Engineering

 

9:30-10:45

I.  Cyber-Enabled Knowledge

Information technology changes the fundamental economics of information, as seen in institutional repositories, open courseware, and open access publishing.  But how does it change the economics of knowledge?  What are the implications of enhanced collaboration and virtual organization for knowledge institutions, markets, and public investment?  How does cyberinfrastructure affect the ecology of knowledge in different sectors and professions?  How can advances in research and education inform and extend to innovation, enterprise, and commerce – and vice versa? 

 

Guru Parulkar, Stanford

Fiona Murray, MIT

Simon Porter, University of Melbourne

moderator: Peter A. Freeman, Washington Advisory Group

 

11:00-12:30

II.  The Empowered University in the Global Economy

Leading universities, domestic and foreign, have responded aggressively to globalization, seeking human capital and research opportunities wherever they may be found.  IT is used to expand operating reach and scope: foreign campuses, tech/knowledge transfer, spin-offs, institutional collaborations, remote and informal learning, and alumni networking.  What are implications of extended institutional presence and its interaction with other institutions and private sector activities?  What are the implications for different models of innovation/ commercialization?  For the university’s public service mission?

 

Lesa Mitchell, Kauffman Foundation

Pradeep Khosla, CMU

Susan Tuttle, IBM

Gerald Barnett, UC Santa Cruz

moderator: Jeff Lehman, Woodrow Wilson Center & Cornell

 

12:30 -1:45  Lunch

1:15: lunch speaker and discussion – Tony Hey, Microsoft

 

1:45-3:15

III.  Designing for Integration and Collaboration

Design of knowledge infrastructure can be approached top-down, bottom-up, or at strategic points in between.  It can strengthen relationships with industry, communities of practice and knowledge, the regional economy, and the global public.  How does cyber-empowered knowledge reshape functions, services, opportunities, and policies?  At what levels is cooperation or collaboration most effective and efficient – and at what scale? What are the best strategies for organizing and sustaining the scale and complexity of cyberinfrastructure?  How is this affected by architectural issues, such as complementarity, interoperability, transfers vs. transactions, serial vs. parallel interaction, closed vs. open, and organization and delineation of producer/user communities.

 

John Wilbanks, Science Commons

Chris Mackie, Mellon Foundation

Sara Kiesler, CMU

Mackenzie Smith, MIT

moderator: Linda Katehi, Illinois

 

3:30-5:00

IV.  On the Edge

By lowering or bridging barriers, cyberinfrastructure can bring different institutional, enterprise, and policy models into unaccustomed proximity.  The result may be powerful complementarities – or it may be competition or conflict. Since the separation between institutional and public policy also blurs, what kind of stewardship should the academy provide for advancing knowledge infrastructure?  When should it take the lead in developing standards? How should it account for industry and sector differences?  How should voluntaristic and cooperative models fit with market-based models?  How should universities navigate/mediate between open and controlled models of knowledge? 

 

Brian Kahin, Michigan & CCIA

Arti Rai, Duke

Elliot Maxwell, Committee for Economic Development

moderator: Kaye Husbands-Fealing, Minnesota

 

5:00 Adjourn