| A revolution is underway in the role played by cyberinfrastructure and
modern data services in the conduct of research and education. We live in an
era of an unprecedented data volume from diverse sources, multidisciplinary
analysis and synthesis, and active, learner-centered education emphasis.
Complex environmental problems such as global change and water cycle
transcend disciplinary and geographic boundaries, and their solution
requires integrated earth system science approaches. Contemporary education
strategies recommend adopting an Earth system science approach for teaching
the geosciences, employing pedagogical techniques such as enquiry-based
learning. The resulting transformation in geoscience education and research
creates new opportunities for advancement and poses many challenges. The
success of the scientific enterprise depends heavily on the availability of
a state-of-the-art, robust, and flexible cyberinfrastructure, and on the
timely access to quality data, products, and tools to process, manage,
analyze, integrate, publish, and visualize those data.
Concomittantly, rapid advances in computing, communication, and information
technologies have revolutionized the provision and use of data, tools and
services. The profound consequences of Moore's Law and the explosive growth
of the Internet are well known. On the other hand, how other technological
trends have shaped the development of data services is less well understood.
For example, the advent of digital libraries, web services, open standards
and protocols have been important factors in shaping a new generation of
cyberinfrastructure for solving key scientific and educational problems.
This paper presents a broad overview of these issues, along with a survey of
key information technology trends, and discuses how those trends are
enabling new approaches to applying data services for solving geoscientific
problems. |