Cyberinfrastructure is an integrated view of all the components that constitute the advanced networking capabilities required by the research and education community. As articulated in the National Science Foundation's Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery, published in July 2006, "Cyberinfrastructure integrates hardware for computing, data and networks, digitally-enabled sensors, observatories and experimental facilities, and an interoperable suite of software and middleware services and tools." In essence, cyberinfrastructure takes a holistic approach to addressing the challenges of efficiently connecting data, computers, and people needed to support research and education.
Thus, the cyberinfrastructure vision resonates with the systems approach to advanced networking taken by Internet2 community, as reflected in the scope of and coordination among Internet2's programs and activities. For example, the Internet2 Network will implement capabilities developed in coordination with state and regional, campus, national, and international networks that will enable the delivery of new capabilities and services to end users. These network capabilities will inform, integrate, and leverage the work underway in the Internet2 Middleware Initiative and the Internet2 End-to-End Performance Initiative. Internet2 is also working with application communities, such as the high-energy physicists working with the Large Hadron Collider, to ensure they are engaged in both the deployment and use of these new capabilities, such as dedicated circuit services.
During 2006, Internet2 focused on collaboration with other organizations and communities engaged in the broader effort to promote cyberinfrastructure, such as the Open Science Grid, TeraGrid, and EDUCAUSE. Internet2 staff facilitated conversations among various US federal agencies engaged in cyberinfrastructure. DANTE, Internet2, CANARIE, and ESnet meet biannually to coordinate technical direction and pool engineering resources for software development collaboration, with the aim of ensuring seamless communication between jointly developed and deployed cyberinfrastructure systems. In conjunction with the Spring 2006 Internet2 Member Meeting, a workshop supported by Penn State, Internet2, and the National Science Foundation focused on understanding the drivers and requirements for deploying campus-level cyberinfrastructure.