TITLE: Dear Colleague Letter - Data Infrastructure in Mathematical and
   Physical Sciences (nsf12094)
   
DATE: 6/22/2012

   NSF 12-094

   Dear Colleague Letter - Data Infrastructure in Mathematical and
   Physical Sciences

   DATE: June 22, 2012

   Science and engineering are rapidly and profoundly becoming
   data-intensive. Nowhere is this felt more acutely than in the
   mathematical and physical sciences (MPS), as national facilities,
   campus, and laboratory instruments collectively generate petabytes of
   data that can be shared across communities. As such, the creation,
   storage, dissemination, and curation of data play a key role in
   continuing to advance the MPS disciplines to new frontiers. The
   opportunities that are afforded by the wealth of data that is
   currently available to the scientific community represent a critical
   component of the NSF vision for the [1]Cyberinfrastructure Framework
   for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21). Through CIF21, NSF
   aims "to accelerate research and education and new functional
   capabilities in computational and data-intensive science and
   engineering". The CIF21 structure is not a monolithic entity but an
   integrated set of activities that are designed to work in conjunction
   with each other to ensure that the scientific community has the
   infrastructure tools that will enable the solution of the major grand
   challenges that are faced by 21st century science and engineering.

   One component of this portfolio is the recently-announced crosscutting
   program announcement [2]Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBs)
   that addresses the need to "develop, implement and support the new
   methods, management structures and technologies to store and manage
   the diversity, size, and complexity of current and future data sets and
   data streams." The goals of the program, issued through the Office of
   Cyberinfrastructure, touch upon every scientific research area in NSF.
   The term "building blocks" has been carefully chosen to reflect the
   fact that the intent of the investments made through the program is to
   create infrastructure components that have potential long-term utility
   beyond just the immediate use. Properly viewed, these building blocks
   can contribute fundamentally to a broader data-intensive science
   capability that will serve the entire national science community.

   The Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate views this
   activity as being a critical component of CIF21 that can enhance and
   complement its own efforts in addressing the data needs for the MPS
   community. These include areas such as: managing large data sets,
   collecting data from distributed and/or heterogeneous sources,
   accessing and integrating multi-source data from multiple groups or
   communities developing standards and data certification, and ensuring
   access to data at the appropriate stages and in useful ways. The three
   components of DIBBs (conceptualization, implementation, and
   interoperability) offer opportunities to address one of more of these
   core data needs at various stages of their development. Scientists
   engaged in DIBBs projects will thus be able to directly participate in
   developing, and thereby helping to shape, the resulting
   infrastructure.

   Members of the MPS community are encouraged to take advantage of the
   opportunities offered through the DIBBs activity wherever appropriate.
   Feel free to contact any of the program officers in the MPS Divisions
   listed below to obtain a better understanding of the MPS goals
   expressed in the program announcement and how they relate to the
   overall goals of the infrastructure development.

   Tom Statler ([3]tstatler@nsf.gov) Evelyn Goldfield
   ([4]egoldfie@nsf.gov)
   Daryl Hess ([5]dhess@nsf.gov) Christopher Stark ([6]cstark@nsf.gov)
   Jean Cottam Allen ([7]jcallen@nsf.gov) Dean Evasius
   ([8]devasius@nsf.gov)

   With best regards,

   H. Edward Seidel
   AD/MPS

   
References

   1. http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504730
   2. http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504776
   3. mailto:tstatler@nsf.gov
   4. mailto:egoldfie@nsf.gov
   5. mailto:dhess@nsf.gov
   6. mailto:cstark@nsf.gov
   7. mailto:jcallen@nsf.gov
   8. mailto:devasius@nsf.gov