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The U.S. Department of Energy has a remarkable array of
research facilities, many of which have no counterpart in the world. These
state-of-the-art installations are important national resources that represent
large federal investments in research. Yet, scientists' need for physical
proximity to both these resources and their colleagues has impacted their
use of these facilities. Experiments and simulations produce prodigious
amounts of information, creating problems for geographically separated
collaborators. Addressing complex, multidisciplinary problems requires
ever larger and more distributed teams.
Vision
The word Collaboratory embraces the state where computing and communications
technologies have rendered separations in time and distance meaningless
to the collective pursuit of knowledge. Research teams form just-in-time
and members share their instruments, data, software, publications, and
expertise in an electronic space that is as accessible and usable as laboratories
and offices down the hall. Collaboratories can improve our efficiency and
effectiveness, our response to rapid change, and our ability to handle
complex difficult problems. Also, collaboratories enable more students
to interact with researchers, discovering their wonder and excitement about
the subject, appreciating the role they play in improving our lives, and
building the next generation of scientists.
Goals
- Demonstrate the impact of collaboratories on DOE science and engineering.
- Develop new collaboration technologies and infrastructure.
- Integrate new and existing collaboration technologies into powerful environments.
- Carry out pilot projects in partnership with DOE science programs and industry.
- Broker community-wide agreement on standards and architecture.
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