Project Office News: October 2006
NPO Sends Key Documents to NSF
The NEON Project Office has delivered revised project documents to the National Science Foundation panel that will conduct a Conceptual Design Review of NEON, November 6-9, 2006. Included are: (1) the Integrated Science and Education Plan (ISEP), which has been substantively improved by several rounds of community comment, (2) the Networking and Informatics Baseline Design (NIBD), a description of the cyberinfrastructure that will support and enable the National Ecological Observatory Network, and (3) the Request for Information (RFI), a call for information from the environmental science community to further refine the design and specifications of NEON.
- ISEP Final Release [pdf; 18.1 MB]
- NIBD Final Release [pdf; 14.3 MB]
- RFI v1.0 [doc; 244 KB]
- RFI Template File Version 1.0
Posted by djohnson on Friday October 27, at 4PM
Town Meeting/Webcast Devoted to the Request for Information
On November 1, 2006, from 1pm-4pm EDT, the NEON Project Office will host an RFI question and answer session at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) I St. Conference Center (1575 I “Eye” St., NW, Washington, DC) in the “East Room.” Representatives from NEON and NSF will be available to respond to questions and clarify the RFI requirements. Those interested in submitting a response to the RFI are invited to ask questions in person or via the live Webcast. The entire session will be recorded and posted for playback.
- NEON RFI Q&A Session [Word doc]
Posted by djohnson on Thursday October 26, at 11AM
NEON RFI Now Available for Comment
Please use the response form below to send us your comments on the draft Request for Information. For details about this stage of NEON design, see "Next Steps for NEON" and our dear colleague letter (below). The deadline for comments on the RFI is Sunday, October 22. The finalized RFI will be released soon thereafter. Please sign up on our mailing list below for updates.
Posted by djohnson on Monday October 16, at 3PM
Next Steps for NEON
Read NEON Board Chair Jim MacMahon's letter about fast-approaching milestones in NEON planning and development: The upcoming Conceptual Design Review by an NSF panel, the search for a CEO and a Project Manager, and your opportunity to contribute to the evolving NEON design.
The latest version of the NEON Integrated Science and Education Plan (ISEP) has been released and is available for community comments The new document reflects changes (to the version released on 7 September) made by a recently convened writing and review team, as well as input from the ecological community and members of the NEON, Inc. Board of Directors . Community responses to the ISEP are due October 22.
The NEON Project Office will soon post a draft Request for Information (RFI) for public consideration and comment. This document details the kind of information that NEON, Inc. needs to receive from the community in order to complete the final design of the Observatory. The deadline for comments on this draft will also be October 22.
On October 23, final versions of both the ISEP and RFI will be sent to the NSF panel that will conduct a Conceptual Design Review of NEON during the week of November 6.
The most recent version of the ISEP (13 October 2006) and the comment form are in the Documents section or can be accessed directly through the links below:
Posted by djohnson on Friday October 13, at 4PM