Cyberinfrastructure Plan Outline

NSF requires that all proposals for new Major Facility and Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (RI) include a Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Plan that outlines the strategy and approach for CI across the life cycle of the proposed RI (additional information soon to be available in the revised RIG, Section 5.2 Cyberinfrastructure). The CI Plan should be tailored and scaled appropriately to the nature and complexity of the RI and progressively elaborated as the RI advances through its life cycle stages. Existing RI may also develop a CI Plan following this format based on requirements provided by the cognizant Program Officer (PO) and the terms and conditions of the award.

The following are recommended topics for a CI Plan encompassing the range NSF expects to be addressed. Ideally, the CI Plan itself does not specify requirements and designs but provides pointers to other project documents where those are defined.

Enabling the Scientific Mission

  • Concept of use by the scientific community. Outline how CI will enable the RI to be used and operated, and how users will engage with the RI via CI systems as appropriate.
  • High-level system architecture. Illustrate the internal CI elements and external interfaces, including user access points/portals and connections to external CI elements.
  • Functionality and operational modes. Summarize the ways that the CI will operate to support the above concept of use.
  • Anticipated data products and date life cycle. Summarize the data products to be produced and data life cycle to be supported, referencing the Data Management Plan as needed.

Internal CI Elements and Requirements

  • CI Software Systems, Tools, and Services. Summarize the user-focused applications, control systems, and middleware; and how performance and quality control will be defined and maintained.
  • Data Resources and Services. Outline storage, curation, and disaster recovery requirements to support the concept of use and data life cycle.
  • Computational Resources and Services. Summarize on-premises computing, workload and workflow management, and associated capacity and performance requirements.
  • Internal Scientific Data Network. Summarize elements and requirements for data transfer to support data operations and the data life cycle from acquisition to user access.
  • Other Elements and Requirements. Describe any additional elements or requirements.

External CI, Facilities, and Resources

  • Integration with External Resources. Summarize the external CI and other resources and facilities that will be relied on or interfaced with, including partnerships, adopted standards, and interoperability requirements.
  • Computational and Data Resources. Outline any plans and dependencies for external computational and data systems and describe the typical workflows and utilization patterns.
  • Networking connectivity and external access. Summarize external data transfer requirements as well as any access that the RI will provide to other external systems and facilities.

Information Assurance (Cybersecurity) related to the CI elements

  • User Access Systems. Describe the systems and processes to enable external user access, including controls and identity management.
  • Internal CI Systems. Describe the plans for securing scientific software applications, data and other internal CI systems.
  • Connectivity to External CI and Resources. Describe security measures associated with any interfaces to external CI systems and other resources and facilities.
  • See RIG Section 5.3 Information Assurance for details on broader requirements and expectations.

CI Implementation Approach

  • Management Plan. Summarize the plan for managing CI implementation.
  • Strategy for In-house vs. External CI. Describe the approach for determining in-house development vs. external leveraging or acquisition of CI resources and services.
  • QA Requirements and Metrics. Outline Quality Assurance (QA) requirements and metrics, including any Service Level Agreement (SLA) metrics e.g. for uptime, defect resolution, and user support.
  • Staffing Requirements and Approach. Summarize the staff types, numbers, qualifications, and management approach for CI implementation.
  • Risk Management. Summarize the risk management strategy for CI implementation.

CI Operational Approach

  • CI Refresh. Outline anticipated refresh cycles and technology adoption strategy.
  • Operational Staffing Requirements. Summarize staffing needs and management approach for CI operations.
  • Requirements for End User Training and Support. Describe training programs and materials, as well as ways that active users will be supported related to the CI.
  • Performance Monitoring and Measurement. Summarize how CI performance will be monitored and measured, including as related to the RI scientific goals.
  • Operational Risk Management. Summarize the risk management approach for the CI during operations.

For more information, please send a note to: AskRIO@nsf.gov.

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