Due to the current COVID-19 situation, many previously scheduled in-person events are moving to virtual spaces. Events associated with RENCI projects and with consortium and partner institutions are making decisions daily about whether to postpone, transition to virtual, or potentially proceed in the late summer and fall. We will keep our events calendar updated, so check back regularly for announcements.
Two major events that have made the choice to transition to virtual are the FABRIC Community Workshop and the iRODS User Group Meeting. Although this change is unprecedented, both teams are adjusting their sessions to accommodate the virtual atmosphere and provide a memorable experience for attendees.
FABRIC Virtual Community Workshop
From April 15 – 16, FABRIC will virtually host a Community Visioning Workshop via Zoom. As the first major FABRIC event, it is intended to provide a forum for academic researchers, industry, technologists, R&E network and computing facilities operators, and other stakeholders to exchange ideas and provide feedback on the proposed architecture and scope of the FABRIC project.
During the workshop, attendees will be given an overview of the project design and engineering, and listen to a panel of FABRIC Science Design Drivers. The workshop will also include two sessions of lightning talks on the applications of FABRIC and a variety of breakout groups discussing the future of different FABRIC teams.
The FABRIC project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is currently in its first year of development. FABRIC will create a unique national research infrastructure for testing novel architectures aimed at building an extensible, more secure Internet. The FABRIC leadership team recently announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), tasked with facilitating collaboration and providing scientific and technological review for the project. The SAC will be present during the Virtual Community Workshop to share guidance and feedback with FABRIC stakeholders.
“It’s easy to build something that only a few people actually find useful,” says Ilya Baldin, principal investigator of FABRIC. “Our goal in hosting workshops is to use feedback from our multiple stakeholders to ensure that FABRIC is effective at addressing their research needs.”
In addition to hosting this virtual workshop, the FABRIC team plans to host a number of in-person events starting in Fall 2020, including a Face-To-Face Community Workshop, a Facilities and Federations Workshop, and an Experimentation Workshop.
To learn more about the FABRIC Virtual Community Workshop and to register, click here.
iRODS Virtual User Group Meeting
The 12th Annual iRODS User Group Meeting serves as an opportunity for attendees to meet iRODS users, Consortium members, and staff to discuss iRODS-enabled applications and discoveries, technologies powered by iRODS, and the future of iRODS and the iRODS Consortium. The Virtual iRODS User Group Meeting will take place from June 9 – 12 via Zoom.
From June 9 – 11, the iRODS team will host over 25 presentations from the user community and the core development team, including use case presentations, live demonstrations, and open discussions about requested iRODS features. On June 12, the last day of the meeting, the team will run an iRODS Troubleshooting session, where participants can receive one-on-one help with an existing or planned iRODS installation or integration.
This year’s virtual event will be a collection of pre-recorded and live talks with discussion. An audience of 150 participants representing dozens of academic, government, and commercial institutions is expected to join.
iRODS is an open-source data management software in use at research organizations and government agencies worldwide. The iRODS Consortium brings together businesses, research organizations, universities, and government agencies to ensure the sustainability of iRODS by guiding further development of the software, growing the user and developer communities, and facilitating iRODS support, education, and collaboration opportunities. Currently, the Consortium has 26 members across the world, fields a team of software developers, application engineers, and support staff housed at RENCI.
“The annual iRODS User Group Meeting has always opened our eyes to the impact of iRODS worldwide, and this year’s meeting will be no different,” says Jason Coposky, Executive Director at iRODS. “Although we are moving to a virtual platform, we intend to provide a similar experience to years past by ensuring there are plenty of opportunities for networking, discussion and collaboration.”
To learn more about the Virtual iRODS User Group Meeting and to register, click here.
