ITR/SI: Societal Scale Information Systems: Technologies, Design and Applications

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract ITR/SI: Societal Scale Information Systems: Technologies, design and applications James Demmel, University of California, Berkeley 0122599 Information technology (IT) is transforming society at an accelerating pace, but critical research is needed to realize IT's potential for solving complex societal problems, including energy, disaster response and education. We are establishing the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) to sponsor collaborative, IT-focused research to find solutions to grand-challenge societal problems affecting the quality of life of individuals and organizations. CITRIS is a multi-campus center, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced, with many industrial partners. CITRIS's driving applications include (1) boosting efficiency of energy production and consumption, and (2) saving lives and property and establishing emergency response IT infrastructure in the wake of disasters, among others. The solutions to these applications share a need for highly-distributed, reliable, and secure information systems that can evolve and adapt to radical changes in their environment, delivering networked information services and up-to-date sensor network data stores over ad-hoc, flexible and fault tolerant networks that adapt to the people and organizations that need them. We call such systems Societal-Scale Information Systems. Our research and outreach partner is UC Merced, a new research campus to be constructed, with a special mission to expand participation of underrepresented, first generation college-going, low income and rural students.