Seven Slides to a Provocative CyberInfrastructure

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Seven Slides to a Provocative CyberInfrastructure

• John Rumble
• Information International Associates
• Oak Ridge TN

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My Credentials
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Standards

• Why
• For What
• How

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Standards - Why

• To help materials RD exploit the Information
  Revolution
• The NSF CyberInfrastructure wants ideas!

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Standards For What

• The Basics
• Material
• Uniqueness that specific material
• Equivalency two materials are the same to a
  specified degree
• Properties and characteristics
• Conditions under which that property and
  characteristic is valid

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Standards For What

• Interoperability of
• Databases
• Software
• Data exploitation (visualization, mining and
  more)
• Articles and automated experiment/calculation
  reporting and deposition
• Archiving
• More

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Standards - How

• Neutral formats
• Allows one to maintain own format
• Only requires translation into and out of format
• Define data elements
• Include normal data dictionary (ontology)
  information
• Identify minimum set necessary
• Define others in case wanted or needed
• Allow extensions (self-definition)
• Do not underestimate difficulties in resolving
  nomenclature problems
• Separate semantics from syntax

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Standards - How

• You must be motivated to build a standard
• You must have motivation to use a standard
• Industry builds and uses standards for business
  reasons
• If it is hard to build a standard, the motivation
  is usually lacking
• Why do scientists build standards?

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The Opportunities for NSF CyberInfrastructure and
Materials Science

1. RD on the use of MatML in data exploitation
   visualization, mining, etc.
2. RD on metadata requirements and use of MatML in
   software interoperability up/down material
   scale software components
3. RD on the theory of measurement uncertainty for
   modeling and simulation physical models
   algorithm development coding perhaps with NIST
4. RD on standards for materials data/information
   archiving who, what, how, support, deposition,
   compatibility, international issues perhaps with
   CODATA

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CyberInfrastructure is in Its Infancy

• Newgrange Ireland
• 6000 years old
• Aligned to the rising sun in the winter solstice
• Depended on careful observational data on the
  rising sun
• One data point!