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Musings on the Reproducibility of Unidata

Musings on the Reproducibility of Unidata. Principles for Success in Collaboration Experiments. Two Assertions. Among NSF-funded efforts, Unidata has been an unusually collaborative success story

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Musings on the Reproducibility of Unidata

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  1. Musings on the Reproducibility of Unidata Principles for Success in Collaboration Experiments

  2. Two Assertions • Among NSF-funded efforts, Unidata has been an unusually collaborative success story • This success derives, at least in part, from the application of principles that may be critical in other collaborative contexts.

  3. Unidata as Collaboration • A sense of community ownership • Earliest plans thru latest “Strategic Outlook” • Traits like those defining a “collaboratory” • See Fulker, Bates, Jacobs in BAMS 1997 • Decentralized organization & architecture • Multiple data sources to multiple recipients with no data center • Reliance on cooperating tool builders

  4. Principles Underlying Successespecially pertinent to collaboration (my view) • Jim Collins Good to Great (2001): • Disciplined thought • Disciplined action • Persistent core • Treacy & WiersemaHarvard Business Review (1993): • Primary alignment with 1 of 3 value disciplines • Operational Excellence • Customer Relations • Product Leadership

  5. Collins – Disciplined Thought • Willingness to confront reality • A simple, coherent strategic concept • Unidata manifestation • Constant reminders (Policy & Users Committees) about real customer needs & fiscal constraints • Program renewal via peer-reviewed proposals • Strategic focus on building/providing tools(catalysts, not completed reactions)

  6. Collins – Disciplined Action • Willingness to say “no” • Clear assignment of responsibilities • Advancement as a cumulative process • Unidata manifestation • Simple governance model (under UCAR) • NSF exerts (strong) leadership & (patient) support • Successfully conducting long-term development alongside (immediate) user support

  7. Collins – Persistent Core • An enduring purpose • Immutable core values (as basis for advances) • Unidata manifestation • Current strategy likely resonates with founders • Remarkable core values, such as • Continuous rebalancing of development vs. support • Centrifugal force (distributed functionality…) • Smart use of abstractions

  8. Treacy & Wiersema – Alignment • Primary alignment with one of three value disciplines (while attending to the other two) • Operational Excellence (Dell, e.g.) • Customer Relations (IBM, e.g.) • Product Leadership (Apple, e.g.) • Opinions may differ on which is primary for Unidata…

  9. Operational Excellence(price point, as at Dell, e.g.) • Unidata manifestation • Data access & sharing via community-owned data relays (IDD) & servers (THREDDS…) • Data analysis & visualization via free (mostly open-source) software • Well established reliability record • Is this the primary discipline? • May be most important factor for users with small budgets but some computing experience

  10. Customer Relations(knowing customer needs intimately, as at IBM, e.g.) • Unidata manifestation • High expertise dedicated to support • Training workshops • User meetings • Is this the primary discipline? • May be most important factor for users with the least computing experience (or heavy reliance on student operation)

  11. Product Innovation(leading-edge design, as at Apple, e.g.) • Unidata manifestation • Truly unique software (important abstractions) • netCDF • IDD/LDM • IDV, Bundles (on VisAD) • RAMADA, THREDDS, LEAD • Is this the primary discipline? • May be most important factor for expanding into new communities

  12. A Subjective Opinion • While Unidata success clearly depends on • Operational excellence • Customer intimacy • Unidata has evolved to be a design-centered organization, and the primary value discipline (defining Unidata’s future) is • Product leadership

  13. Even More Subjectively • My WAG: Unidata’s product leadership will significantly affect scientific “publication” (as that notion evolves…) • Data references will be common in bibliographies • Increasingly complex ideas (requiring data and “bundles” to describe them) will take shape collaboratively in wiki- or blog-like contexts • The speed of idea propagation will increase • Libraries will become Unidata users

  14. Concluding Observations • Unidata probably is reproducible (in other fields, e.g.) with attention to principles • Key principles underlie Unidata because the individuals who shaped the program (many of them in this room) applied them instinctively • Thanks for a fun ride!

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