Overcoming the Law of the Hidden in Cyberinfrastructures

Alexander Bucksch; Abhiram Das; Hannah Schneider; Nirav Merchant; Joshua S Weitz

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2016.11.014

Overcoming the Law of the Hidden in Cyberinfrastructures

Trends Plant Sci. 2017 Feb;22(2):117-123. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2016.11.014. Epub 2016 Dec 24.

Authors

Alexander Bucksch¹, Abhiram Das², Hannah Schneider³, Nirav Merchant⁴, Joshua S Weitz⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, GA 30602, USA; Previous address: School of Biology and School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. Electronic address: bucksch@uga.edu.
² School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
³ Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA.
⁴ Biotechnology Computing Facility, BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; The iPlant Collaborative, BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
⁵ School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. Electronic address: jsweitz@gatech.edu.

PMID: 28027865
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2016.11.014

Abstract

Cyberinfrastructure projects (CIPs) are complex, integrated systems that require interaction and organization amongst user, developer, hardware, technical infrastructure, and funding resources. Nevertheless, CIP usability, functionality, and growth do not scale with the sum of these resources. Instead, growth and efficient usage of CIPs require access to 'hidden' resources. These include technical resources within CIPs as well as social and functional interactions among stakeholders. We identify approaches to overcome resource limitations following the conceptual basis of Liebig's Law of the Minimum. In so doing, we recommend practical steps towards efficient and scaleable resource use, taking the iPlant/CyVerse CIP as an example.

Keywords: computational plant science; cyberinfrastructure; plant biology; plant phenotyping.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Computational Biology / methods*
Models, Biological
Plants*
Software