BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— As part of its mission to advance research, education and engagement both in Indiana and beyond, Indiana University (IU) recently accepted an invitation from CENTRA to join as an institutional member.

CENTRA stands for Collaborations to Enable Transnational Cyberinfrastructure Applications and refers to a partnership and evolving framework for collaborations among research centers, institutes and laboratories across the world. Objectives of the partnership include pursuing the rigorous understanding and solution of scientific problems via international collaboration, while supporting collaborative cyberinfrastructure research activities designed to educate a new generation of researchers.

As a CENTRA member, IU has a unique opportunity to further expand its scientific and technological activities and synergies through an established consortium of prominent Asian and American research entities. Its participation will benefit both CENTRA and IU in promoting cyberinfrastructure and networking activities, bringing interested researchers and students together to engage in training activities, and providing a forum to discuss shared experiences and potential areas of collaborations.

IU is known nationally and internationally for its computational and networking research support infrastructure through which it supports the research of the university, state, nation and world.

Some examples include its:

• Global Network Operations Center (GlobalNOC) which operates a network center from one central location for multiple networks running in various parts of the globe.
• Big Red 200 supercomputer, featuring 640 compute nodes
• Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI), which connects IU to national and international HPC and edge computing communities, fosters research in strategic areas such as AI and open science, and creates opportunities to enhance the IU educational experience

Through engagement of various IU staff and faculty, including PTI Executive Director Beth Plale and International Networking Director Edward Moynihan, IU has a long history of collaborations with CENTRA. Since 2016, IU has participated in CENTRA’s annual meetings and hosted its 2023 meeting. It also contributed to various solutions with CENTRA, such as metadata IoT devices, including Persistent ID AirBox Air Quality Monitors.

According to Plale, “Through our involvement with the CENTRA international community network and our strong alignment with its research domains and interests, IU will further its international reach to enhance both research and education.”

Moynihan added, “We are excited to join CENTRA that as an international consortium manages to achieve strong trust bonds critical to the advancement of science. We look forward to working within CENTRA to support the next generation of global science collaboration.”

In addition to IU, current CENTRA institutional members include the:

• Advanced Computing and Information Systems (ACIS) laboratory of the University of Florida
• Center of Excellence for Cyber-Enablement of Applications (CECEA) in Taiwan
• National Institute of Information and Communications Technologies (NICT) in Japan
• Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) in Portugal
• Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) in Republic of Korea
• National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan

To learn more, visit the CENTRA website and/or contact Beth Plale.