The Natjonal Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System as an open commons in South Africa EGI Technical Forum Lisbon, 2015 Bruce Becker, SANREN Competency Area, Meraka Instjtute, CSIR bbecker@csir.co.za | @brusisceddu 15/05/19 EGI Technical Forum, Lisbon, 2015 1
Outline ● What is this “Open” you speak of ? ● What is Open ? ● What is an Open Commons ? ● Systems Thinking for Cyberinfrastructure in South Africa : NICIS ● Implicatjons ● For researchers, developers and operators ● For the economy ● For the region Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Wherefore art thou ? What does it mean to be a commons ? Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Everybody comes from somewhere Jenny Hallward Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Everybody uses the Commons in their own way Jenny Hallward Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
What is a Commons Anyway ? … belonging to or afg fgectj tjng the whole of a community... ...anyone can contribute... Share Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
The Commons, Openness and Science “The more we understand about science and its complexitjes, the more important it is for scientjfjc data to be shared openly” htup:/ /creatjvecommons.org/science “Science == Openness” ? Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
NRF Statement on Open Access htu tup:/ /www.nrf.ac.za/media-room/news/statement-open-access-research-publicatj tjons-natj tjonal-research- foundatj tjon-nrf-funded ● From 01 March 2015, authors of research papers generated from research [..] funded by NRF, should deposit their fjnal peer-reviewed manuscripts […] to the administering Instjtutjonal Repository with an embargo period of no more than 12 months. ● Earlier Open Access may be provided should this be allowed by the publisher. ● If the paper is published in an Open Access journal [..this paper..] should be deposited into the administering Instjtutjonal Repository and Open Access should be provided as soon as possible. ● In additjon, the data supportjng the publicatjon should be deposited in an accredited Open Access repository, with the provision of a Digital Object Identjfjer for future citatjon and referencing. Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Social Aspects of an Open Commons ● Openness is a social evolutjon, distributjng power and increasing transparency, with many aspects: ● Open Source ● Makes it easier to share and contribute ● Open Science ● Making the scientjfjc method more transparent and reproducible ● acknowledging contributjons from various places ● Open Access ● To content (access to knowledge) ● To infrastructures (in order to generate content) ● Open Standards ● Ensure interoperability and avoid lock-in ● Provide means to contribute to the development of the commons Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
How can this possibly work ? ● We seem to be in a dilemma: this cannot be achieved through entjrely top-down or botuom-up actjvitjes: ● Is strict hierarchy (Tier1, Tier2, instjtutjonal, etc) the wrong model ? ● Implies rigidity, predictability, control ● Perhaps the correct model is a fmatuer, open, complex-adaptjve system with organising agents ? ● Implies fmexibility, non-linearity, complex interactjons Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Systems Thinking ORDER ENABLES CREATIVITY Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
(Complex Adaptjve) Systems Thinking ● The number of elements is suffj ffjciently large that conventjonal descriptjons (e.g. a system of difgerentjal equatjons) are not only impractjcal, but cease to assist in understanding the system. Moreover, the elements interact dynamically, and the interactjons can be physical or involve the exchange of informatjon ● Such interactj tjons are rich, i.e. any element or sub-system in the system is afgected by and afgects several other elements or sub-systems ● The interactj tjons are non-linear: small changes in inputs, physical interactjons or stjmuli can cause large efgects or very signifjcant changes in outputs ● Interactjons are primarily but not exclusively with immediate neighbours and the nature of the infmuence is modulated ● Any interactj tjon can feed back onto itself directly or afuer a number of intervening stages. Such feedback can vary in quality. This is known as recurrency ● Such systems may be open and it may be diffj ffjcult or impossible to defj fjne system boundaries ● Complex systems operate under far from equilibrium conditjons. There has to be a constant fm fmow of energy to maintain the organizatj tjon of the system ● Complex systems have a history. They evolve and their past is co-responsible for their present behaviour ● Elements in the system may be ignorant of the behaviour of the system as a whole, responding only to the informatjon or physical stjmuli available to them locally Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
The Natjonal Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
NICIS: A System for Cyberinfrastructure VISION: natjonal leadership in the provision of a comprehensive Cyber-Infrastructure, essentjal to 21st century advances for South African research, educatjon and innovatjon. MISSION: increase knowledge creatjon through provision of a natjonal platgorm of essentjal Cyber-Infrastructure. PRINCIPLES Governance • Joint planning and budgetjng Strategy Advisory • Good governance Board • Visibility of CI services Senior • Sustainability Management • Constructjve stakeholder engagement NICIS: TIER 1 User and Community Advanced Services Inputs 15/03/31 15 Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
NICIS Components: Network + 15/03/31 CHAIN-REDS 16 Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
NICIS Components: Compute NICIS Recommendatjon: CHPC in essentj tjally its current form should take on the role of the Computj tjng Services area, with some changes to its mandate. 15/03/31 CHAIN-REDS 17 Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
NICIS Components: Data Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Nice kit ! ... What about the people ? Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Une Terre Pour Tous htup:/ /aaroc.github.io/blog/2014/11/26/Terre-des-hackers “Nous sommes tous de jeunes barbares que nos jouets neufs émerveillent encore.” - A. de Saint-Exupery “Terre des Hommes” Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Le Colon et le Soldat Pour le colonial qui fonde un empire, le sens de la vie est de conquérir. Le soldat meprise le colon, mais le but de cetue conquete n’etait-il pas l’etablissement de ce colon ? […] La verité pour l’un, fût de bâtjr, […] elle est, pour l’autre, de l’habiter. Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Towards a Commons: What's missing ? ● Several central components have been put place for the creatjon of an e-Infrastructure commons in South Africa: ● Signifjcant computjng and data hardware investment ● Network infrastructure connectjng almost everyone ● Open Access Statement and policies on central funding ● Culture stjll needs to catch up to technology (again) ● A culture of appreciatjng the common good, of contributjng and collectjve actjon is desirable ● Small and niche contributjons can be just as impactgul as large, shiny ones. ● Are we ready to give up control and allow true partjcipatjon by all ? Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
Open Commons as Exchanges ● Interoperable infrastructures ● Standard interfaces to common services ● Coordinatjon of OLAs and SLAs to provide coordinated operatjons ● Independent Core Services to encourage 3 rd party and community contributjon ● Monitoring and Accountjng ● Identjty and Service Federatjon ● Discoverability and re-usability (publishing, preserving and licensing) ● Specialisatj tjon and Skills ● Re-Use : Develop “Building Blocks” and donate them to the commons ● Reward and Recognitj tjon : Make it worth the while to do things for the long-run, not the annual performance evaluatjon Bruce Becker | @brusisceddu | bbecker@csir.co.za | CSIR | EGI Technical Forum 2015, Lisbon| 19/05/2015
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