The Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF) 12th Annual Global LambdaGrid Workshop is being held in Chicago, October 11-12, 2012, collocated with the 8th IEEE International e-Science Conference, the Open Grid Forum, and the Microsoft e-Science Workshop. The GLIF organization's annual workshop provides an international forum for Research & Education network managers and engineers, computer scientists and discipline scientists who are involved in the design, development and use of advanced optical networks to meet, discuss, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions to complex societal problems. These optical networks are the underpinnings of an evolving global high-performance computing and communications ecosystem, and provide the "big pipes" that enable scientists to access complex collections of digital "big data" in timely fashion so that they can extract knowledge and insight.
Global networking is a vital component of global cyberinfrastructure, and it is the GLIF community that focuses on how to optimally design and develop on-demand LambdaGrids of interconnected distributed computing, sensor and instrument resources to best enable data-intensive science, thus representing intellectual merit.
GLIF 2012 presents an opportunity to better architect how high-performance networks, or "big pipes", can best enable access to "big data" in order to provide scientists with timely information for analysis and ultimately knowledge. Nascent work in these areas is already impacting scientific disciplines, from bioinformatics to metagenomics to geosciences, and it is the general public that will ultimately benefit.
The Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF) held its 12th Annual Global LambdaGrid Workshop in Chicago, October 11-12, 2012, and was collocated with the 8th IEEE International e-Science Conference, the Open Grid Forum, and the Microsoft e-Science Workshop. The GLIF organization’s annual workshop provides a forum for Research & Education network managers and engineers, computer scientists and discipline scientists who are involved in the design, development and use of advanced optical networks to meet, discuss, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions to complex societal problems. These optical networks are the underpinnings of an evolving global high-performance computing and communications ecosystem, and provide the "big pipes" that enable scientists to access complex collections of digital "big data" in timely fashion so that they can extract knowledge and insight. Chicago is an excellent city in which to host events, for it has a beautiful lakefront, many unique cultural activities and events, excellent restaurants and is easy to travel to from anywhere in the world. In the technical arena, Chicago is also home to StarLight, the world’s first and largest Research & Education optical network exchange, and a model for new exchange facilities being designed and built worldwide. Chicago is also home to the highly regarded Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, whose networked, high-resolution collaboration and visualization display systems have been adopted by major research institutions worldwide. Chicago is also, unfortunately, an expensive city, and the costs associated with hosting this workshop would have been a deterrent to attendance, as has happened in the past. Workshop support helped offset expenses and reduced and/or covered registration fees in order to encourage participation from past attendees, from East Asian and the Far Eastern attendees, and from junior scientists (graduate students, postdocs and assistant professors), who are only now becoming involved in advanced networking. This intense two-day workshop provided an opportunity for face-to-face meetings among the best and the brightest researchers worldwide, which, in turn, facilitated more cooperation and collaboration in the future. Intellectual Merit…Support for GLIF’s 12th Annual Global LambdaGrid Workshop encouraged more attendees, therefore stimulating more discussions, ideas and outcomes. Global networking is a vital component of global cyberinfrastructure, and it is the GLIF community that is focused on how to optimally design and develop on-demand LambdaGrids of interconnected distributed computing, sensor and instrument resources to best enable data-intensive science. Having a well-attended workshop helped create the synergy and critical mass to advance the state of the art in optical networking. Broader Impact...In a June 6, 2012 memo from John Holdren, director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding "Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2014 Budget," he states, "Scientific discovery, technological breakthroughs, and innovation are the primary engines for expanding the frontiers of human knowledge and are vital for responding to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. We look to scientific innovation to promote sustainable economic growth and job creation, improve the health of the population, move toward a clean energy future, address global climate change, manage competing demands on environmental resources, and ensure the security of the Nation." In addition, OSTP advocates the "Big Data Research and Development Initiative," to develop tools to manage and analyze the rising flood of digital data from many sources, which can have a transformative impact on science, engineering, education, commerce and government. Though these are U.S. initiatives, the scope is global, so by increasing attendance to GLIF 2012, there was an opportunity to better architect how high-performance networks, or "big pipes," could best enable access to "big data" in order to provide scientists with timely information for analysis and ultimately knowledge. Nascent work in these areas is already impacting scientific disciplines, from bioinformatics to metagenomics to geosciences, and it is the general public that will ultimately benefit.
