e-Infrastructure: tool for the elite or tool for everybody? UK e-Science Technical Report Series

Abstract

A Birds of a Feather (BoF) meeting brought together more than 70 interested participants of the e Science All Hands Meeting 2008 to consider questions and issues arising from the proposition: “e-Infrastructure: tool for the elite or tool for everybody?” Contrasting position statements from two practitioners in the field set the scene for multiple break-out groups to debate several questions derived from the proposition, concerning the nature, use and evolution of e-Infrastructure. Results showed considerable commonality of thought among the break-out groups, with 7 broad categories of response emerging. These categories were: i) There is no single common e-Infrastructure; ii) Ease of use is the initial barrier; iii) Dealing with complexity is complex; iv) Trust is important; v) Open development is necessary; vi) Give credit for digital creation; and vii) Attitudes must be changed. Within each of the categories a number of detailed points were collected. The results accord well with findings from interviews conducted by the ENGAGE project; namely that people will tend to prioritise ease of use, support and continued development over a complete feature set. This requires a sustainable community around the software and trust by the users in the e-Infrastructure providers (and vice-versa).