Workshop Slides

Tom Weber

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WORKSHOP ON
Knowledge Networking Processes
Philadelphia
June 9-10, 1997

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Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence in the Information Age

KDI Initiative for FY 1998

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KDI Components:

• Next Generation Internet
  
• Multidisciplinary Approaches
  
  • Learning and Intelligent Systems
    
  • New Computational Challenges
    
  • Knowledge Networking
    

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KDI - SCOPE

• Interdisciplinary Understanding of Complex Systems
• New Levels of Integration and Interactivity of knowledge from different sources
• Building and Exploiting a dynamic interplay between simulations and measurements

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KDI - The Vision

KDI is to achieve, across the scientific community, the next generation of human capability to:

• Generate / gather & represent more complex and cross-disciplinary scientific data information, from new sources and at enormously large scales;
• Transform information into knowledge by combining, classifying, and analyzing it in new ways;
• Collaborate in groups and org., sharing knowledge and working together interactively across space, time, disciplines, and scientific cultures to multiply results.

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KDI - Challenges

• Increase productivity and impact of science and to cope with scientific problems of greater complexity
• Mobilizing the distributed knowledge and capabilities of multiple science communities to:
  • surface common goals
  • increase interaction
  • improve cross-disciplinary understanding
  • raise the collective power of tools and methods

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KDI - Strategy

Support research that:

• Generates greater understanding of phenomena of distributed intelligence and collective behavior in human, automated, and natural systems
• Creates the next generation of mathematical, computational, data-oriented, and organizational methods and infrastructure, which will exploit multidisciplinary distributed intelligence to advance science and engineering
• Enhances human ability to create and use knowledge in groups, organizations, and communities through advances in human infrastructure, technology, and education

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KDI - Why NSF

• Primary government body that funds research in all the relevant domains of knowledge, as well as education
• Track record in producing a body of knowledge in: networking
  • computational approaches to complex problems
  • collaborative technology
  • socio-technical systems and impacts
  • learning
  • education
• Provides basis of community capability and infrastructure for addressing KDI aims

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KDI - Components

Intellectual focus for collaborative thinking on three complementary aspects:

• increasing interactions, knowledge/tools integration, collaboration, and understanding within communities and across disciplines -- KNOWLEDGE NETWORKING (KN)
• extending the power of tools, models, and simulations to represent and manage complex systems -- NEW CHALLENGES IN COMPUTATION (NCC)
• extending our ability to learn and create -- LEARNING AND INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS (LIS)

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Knowledge Networks

• Vision
• Groundwork; Examples
• NSF benefits
• Planned KN Workshops
  • Distributed Heterogeneous Knowledge Networks
  • Knowledge Networking Processes
  • Human Dimensions of Knowledge Networking: Access; Usability; and Impact

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KN - Vision

• Integration of knowledge from different sources and domains across time and space
• Move than radical connectivity
  • useful communication across disciplines, languages, & cultures
  • appropriate processing and integration of knowledge from different sources, domains, and non-text media
  • efficacious activity and arrangements for teams, organizations, classrooms or communities, working together over distance and time.
  • Move from connectivity to new levels of interactivity
• Improve our understanding of the implications of new types of interactivity.

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Ground Work

• NSF gigabit testbed program
• NSFnet high performance connections program
• NSF Cross-agency initiative on Digital Libraries research
• Networking infrastructure for education
• Partnerships for advanced computational infrastructure
• Learning technologies initiative
• Learning & Intelligent Systems Initiative
• Presidential Initiative on NGI

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Examples

• UARC: Upper Atmospheric Research Collaboratory (CISE, GEO)
• The Unidata program(GEO, OPP)
• Scientific DBs; Digital Library Research Initiatives (CISE, EHR, GEO, SBE)
• Distributed climate simulation laboratory (CISE, GEO)
• NNUN: The National Nanofabrication Users Network (ENG, MPS)
• I-WAY 95: a cross-agency knowledge-networking experiment on the Internet
• LANL pre-print service
• NHMFL instruments on-line

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NSF - Benefits

• Unique opportunities for cross-directorate, multi-disciplinary research
• NSF leadership in developing a new national and global research infrastructure and associated human resources beyond advanced computing and networking
• Partnerships with new industries, private groups, international communities
• New economies of scale and scope across multiple disciplines and applications

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Knowledge Networking Workshops

Three Workshops Planned

• Distributed Heterogeneous Knowledge Networking
  • May 8-9 Boulder, CO
• Knowledge Network Process
  • June 9-10 Philadelphia, PA
• Human Dimensions of Knowledge Networking: Access, Usability, Impact
  • June 19-20 Santa Barbara, CA

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Common Themes Addressed in the Workshop

Each workshop should explore the following aspects of Knowledge Networking:

• The need for resources to enable the effective use of widely varying data content in a network environment;
• Knowledge Networking Processes essential to deal with information with widely varying content, time, and distribution scales;
• Human dimension to Knowledge Networking communities; and
• Identify partnerships within the public and non-public sectors of society

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Workshops Charge

Suggest approaches to foster disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge creation across all research areas funded by NSF through investment in:

• Enabling Tools and Infrastructure Ð disciplinary
  • Assess present level of knowledge (technical and programs);
  • Suggest the highest priority research agendas;
  • Identify shared needs and challenges across disciplines
• Needed Capabilities and Research Targets -- interdisciplinary
  • Assess present level of knowledge (technical and programs);
  • Suggest the highest priority research agendas;
  • Identify shared needs and challenges across disciplines
  • Deepening understanding of the ethical, legal, and social implications of new developments in KN
• Critical Pathways to Effective Knowledge Expansion Ð intercultural
  • Suggest approaches to communications across disciplines, language, and cultures
  • Propose appropriate processing and integration of knowledge from different sources, domains, and non-text media
  • Management of KN activities for groups working together over distance and time.

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Topics to Consider in Fulfilling the Charge

• Assess present level of knowledge with respect the theme of each workshop;
• Suggest the highest priority research agendas for the future;
• Identify shared needs and challenges across disciplines
• Identify partnerships within the public and non-public sectors of society

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Comments or Questions ?

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Nsf: FY98 Holistic Themes

• Knowledge & Distributed Intelligence
• Life and Earth's Environment
• Educating for the Future

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Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence

• Knowledge is available to anyone, located anywhere, at anytime.
• Power, information, and responsibility are moving away from centralized control to the individual.

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Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence in the Age of Information

• Next Generation Internet
• Multidisciplinary Approaches
  • Knowledge Networking
  • Learning and Intelligent Systems
  • New Computational Challenges

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NSF Investment Outcomes

• Discoveries at and across the frontier of S&E
• Connections to use in society
• Diverse, productive, globally-oriented S&E workforce
• Proficiency in the math and science skills for all

Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence
Process I

Communication

• Obstacles to overcome
  • Disciplinary Boundaries
  • Incompatabilities: Databases and Simulation
  • Interface between Theorists and Experimentalists
• Electronic Scientific Meetings
• Electronic Archives

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Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence
Process II

Supporting Technology

• Portability
  • One identical language with compilers for all systems or different languages for different classes of applications.
• Database query engines designed for simulation.
• Interactive ability to support collaborative studies in remote localities.

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Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence
Process III

Long Term Support for New Technology Facilities

• NSF
• Pay as you go.
• A new Federal agency
• Corporate
• Private non-profit foundation
• University consortium