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Musings on the Reproducibility of Unidata

Unidata represents a notable success story in collaborative research, particularly under NSF funding. This achievement stems from applying principles critical for effective collaboration, such as community ownership, decentralized organization, and a focus on user needs. Drawing on frameworks from Jim Collins and Treacy & Wiersema, we explore disciplined thought and action, operational excellence, and product leadership, which distinguish Unidata’s approach. The enduring purpose and core values of Unidata provide insights applicable to various fields, suggesting that similar principles can drive success in other collaborative efforts.

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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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