Earthcube: A Community-Driven Cyberinfrastructure for the Geosciences

The National Science Foundation began the EarthCube initiative in 2011 as a partnership between its Directorate of Geosciences and Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

The EarthCube initiative is a community-driven activity aimed at transforming the conduct of geosciences research and education by creating a well-connected and facile environment for sharing and integrating data and knowledge across all geoscience disciplines in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner and to accelerate our ability to understand and predict the Earth system. One of EarthCube’s goals is to foster a community of practice wherein scientists benefit in a demonstrable way from paradigm shifts, novel workflows, and collaborative relationships across disciplinary, cultural, and geographic boundaries, all enabled by the EarthCube program.

After five years of development, EarthCube is at a crucial juncture, transitioning from its initial emphasis on defining workable governing structures and technology frameworks to an operational implementation phase in which it can begin to deliver on the promise and expectations set when the initiative was launched.

In this presentation, we will discuss the progress of EarthCube on a number of fronts and engage the atmospheric science community in charting the future steps toward the development of a cyberinfrastructure for geosciences research.