XSEDE: Enabling New Digital Science The eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) partnership will develop an unprecedented, comprehensive advanced digital services cyberinfrastructure (CI) to enable transformative open science and engineering research and innovative training and educational programs. The goal of XSEDE is to offer users tremendous capabilities with maximum productivity, enabling them to advance and share knowledge across domains. The XSEDE architecture, engineering, operations, support, and education activities are co-designed by an unparalleled team to achieve this goal, far surpassing TeraGrid in usability, reliability, capability, performance, and security?and ultimately, in user productivity and science impact. XSEDE will enable scientists, engineers, and educators to exploit powerful digital services and social networking environments to support knowledge exchange and advance understanding across domains. Just a few examples of the advances to science and society include: accurately predicting earthquake damage to urban structures; modeling of protein and nucleic acid folding and structure prediction to understand how drugs interact with target macromolecules to improve health care; developing novel designs for nanoscale microprocessors; advancing scientific understanding of plants to provide a safe and sustainable food supply, as well as benefits in renewable energy; and simulating pandemic spread to create a virtual laboratory where policy decisions such as school closure, vaccine deployment, and quarantine can be explored. The XSEDE partnership will fulfill this vision by creating the most advanced, capable, and robust advanced digital cyberinfrastructure in the world?and supporting it with the most expert and experienced team of CI professionals. XSEDE will accelerate open scientific discovery and enable researchers, educators, and students across disciplines and across campuses to conduct transformational research efforts and innovative education programs. XSEDE will create strong ties with campus personnel spanning technology, workforce development, and policy issues to enhance CI for research and education. Researchers will use XSEDE directly, from campus and personal systems, from other high-end centers and cyberinfrastructure resources, and via science gateways and discovery environments. XSEDE users will be backed by an integrated national user support program offering an array of services from experts in the application of technology to advance science and engineering, including extensive training and advanced user support and collaboration. XSEDE?s governance model will include participation by these users as stakeholders, while providing centralized management to ensure robustness and to facilitate rapid responses to new issues and opportunities. XSEDE will carry out a multifaceted Training, Education, and Outreach Services (TEOS) program to raise the competency of the present and future scientific community. XSEDE will work proactively with the nation?s educational institutions to create a significantly larger and more diverse STEM workforce. TEOS will broaden participation by working with under-represented faculty and students to engage larger numbers of under-represented individuals from among minority-serving and EPSCoR institutions, women, and people with disabilities. TEOS will disseminate best practices, lessons learned, and quality materials and will leverage external partnerships to scale-up successful practices. XSEDE will leverage the XD Technology Insertion Service (TIS) activities?already awarded to the XSEDE team?into continuously advancing CI and will work closely with the Technology Audit Service (TAS) team to ensure that XSEDE can be effectively evaluated and improved. These activities will ensure that XSEDE is robust, easy to use, performing as designed, and evolving constantly to meet the growing demands of scientific research and researchers. Advancing science with the most powerful, diverse, and integrated set of advanced digital services ever?and linking that to other CI projects and to campuses and local research infrastructure?is unprecedented. No engineering and technology plan can anticipate all contingencies and future opportunities. The successful realization of NSF?s vision for XD will require deep expertise and vast experience, as well as focused and passionate effort. The XSEDE team is uniquely experienced and qualified for this incredible opportunity.
