The Power of Cyberinfrastructure in Building Grassroots Networks: A History of the Pacific Rim Applications and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA), and Lessons Learned in Developing Global Communities

Cyberinfrastructure is transforming science and its conduct, via the creation of new virtual organizations. In particular "cyberinfrastructure enables distributed knowledge communities that collaborate and communicate across disciplines, distances and cultures... [to become] virtual organizations that transcend geographic and institutional boundaries" (Arden Bement, Cyberinfrastructure for the 21st Century, 2007). PRAGMA, the Pacific Rim applications and grid middleware assembly, was established in 2002 via an NSF funded workshop. Its mission is to establish sustained collaborations and to advance the use of grid technologies in applications among a community of investigators around the Pacific Rim. PRAGMA as an organization has grown from 13 institutions that were at the first workshop to more than 30 institutions participating at the time of its 15th workshop. In this presentation we summarize the steps in establishing PRAGMA; discuss some key accomplishments; provide some lessons learned about establishing a global community. We will also compare the development of PRAGMA with that of an organization it catalyzed, the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON).