Midwest Research Computing and Data Consortium

The technical focus of our proposed consortium is on data. Data plays an ever larger role in computational science. Artificial intelligence, edge networks, and computational analysis on data with sensitivities are among just a small number of issues that are relevant and present in present-day scientific and scholarly research . Traditional HPC centers have a compute-first view of serving research, a model which is increasingly being called on for expansion. The consortium’s existence is to support regional conversations of relevance and arm CI professionals with tools to address emerging issues. We onboard organizations that align with our mission, share information transparently, and provide opportunities for professional growth and leadership. While identity is a social process and all forms of identity can be fluid, regional identity is implicit in geography. Regional identity stems from harmony between its inhabitants and indicates unity and social integration within a geographic area. One’s identity as a member of a region can contribute to greater forms of communication, willingness to share, and trust as members share a sense of place. The strong regional identity of academic institutions in the US Midwest states, and through place-based identity, achieve greater forms of transparency and shared mission in support of the CI professional. We used the rule of “one day driving distance.” to define the regional bounds of the Midwest RCD, therefore, our regional focus is to match the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.) We welcome CI professionals from greater distances and have attendees from Iowa and Missouri as well as Tennessee at our meetings. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2227627. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.