Notice2021-23582
Stewardship of Software for Scientific and High-Performance Computing
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Published
October 29, 2021
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The Office of Science (SC) in the Department of Energy (DOE) invites interested parties to provide input relevant to the stewardship of the software ecosystem for scientific and high-performance computing.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 207 (Friday, October 29, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 207 (Friday, October 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60021-60024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23582]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Stewardship of Software for Scientific and High-Performance
Computing
AGENCY: Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Office
of Science, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Science (SC) in the Department of Energy (DOE)
invites interested parties to provide input relevant to the stewardship
of the software ecosystem for scientific and high-performance
computing.
DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before
December 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES: DOE is using the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> system for the
submission and posting of public comments in this proceeding. All
comments in response to this RFI are therefore to be submitted
electronically through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, via the web form accessed
by following the ``Submit a Formal Comment'' link near the top right of
the Federal Register web page for this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
may be submitted to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d0e0e700f1b141d2e3e3438333e3873393238733a322b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7f4f48af5e1eee7d4c4cec2c9c4c289c3c8c289c0c8d1">[email protected]</span></a> or to Dr. Hal Finkel at
(301) 903-1304.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
A complex ecosystem of software, covering a broad spectrum from
end-user scientific software through middleware and system software,
has become a keystone capability for science and engineering. The
continued advancement of this ecosystem is being driven by many
factors, including but not limited to, increasing needs for
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realism and precision, increasing sophistication of scientific
techniques, rapid and diverse evolution of high-performance computing
and storage hardware, the obligations to protect private information
and ensure the integrity of scientific results, and the requirements
associated with the processing of unprecedently-large quantities of
data. Meeting the future needs of both ASCR's research program and the
computational-science performed in service of the nation's scientific
enterprise depends on leveraging a sophisticated, highly
interconnected, professionally developed software ecosystem resulting
from substantial past investments. Through the efforts of a large
community of scientists, engineers, and software professionals, that
ecosystem continues to evolve due to advances in scientific methods,
advances in computing technology, advances in artificial intelligence,
and advances in software-development best practices.
The Exascale Computing Project (ECP),\1\ in implementing the
priorities of the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), has
created a software ecosystem enabling scientific computing to take
advantage of the next-generation supercomputing hardware being deployed
across the DOE National Laboratory complex. While the development
priorities of all ECP-developed software have been heavily influenced
by the needs of ECP's application projects, ASCR anticipates that, with
appropriate stewardship, the ECP-developed software stack \2\ will be
useful across the national scientific- and high-performance-computing
user communities on systems large and small. ECP-developed software and
other ASCR-funded software contributes significantly to the overall
ecosystem for scientific and high-performance computing, which also
includes additional capabilities for machine learning, workflow
orchestration, data management and analysis, and high-throughput
computing. Critically, current and future research and development
addressing DOE SC's mission priorities builds on software within this
ecosystem, both from ECP and other sources. ASCR's Advanced Scientific
Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC) formed a subcommittee in 2018 to
identify the key elements of ECP that need to be transitioned into
ASCR's research program or other new SC/ASCR initiatives after the end
of the project to address opportunities and challenges for future high-
performance-computing capabilities.\3\ ASCAC's report, in response to
this charge, Transitioning ASCR after ECP,<SUP>4</SUP> states:
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\1\ For more information on the Exascale Computing Project, see
<a href="http://www.exascaleproject.org/">www.exascaleproject.org/</a>.
\2\ The Extreme-scale Scientific Software Stack (E4S) integrates
and packages nearly all ECP-developed software technology, see
<a href="https://e4s-project.github.io/">https://e4s-project.github.io/</a>.
\3\ ASCAC charge letter dated September 6, 2018. Available from,
<a href="https://science.osti.gov/ascr/ascac/Reports">https://science.osti.gov/ascr/ascac/Reports</a>.
\4\ Transitioning ASCR after ECP, Report to the DOE Office of
Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program. Advanced
Scientific Computing Advisory Committee. October 2020. Available
from, <a href="https://science.osti.gov/ascr/ascac/Reports">https://science.osti.gov/ascr/ascac/Reports</a>.
We recommend that ASCR build a shared software stewardship
program to leverage and build on the ECP developed ecosystem to
develop, curate, harden, and distribute software essential for
effective use of HPC systems. ASCR should collaborate with other DOE
offices and select outside entities to support development of key
applications, especially those which continue to defy attempts to
address them at the exascale level of computing performance and
problems involving edge computing. We recommend that the ECP
collaboration models be extended as appropriate to hardware and
independent software vendors to engage them early and substantively
in new directions and that similar collaboration with university
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groups should be explored.
ASCR seeks information on critical software dependencies,
development-practice requirements, and other factors relevant to the
development of a software stewardship model suitable for sustaining the
software ecosystem for scientific and high-performance computing.
Potential Scope: Scientific software stewardship is multi-faceted,
potentially including, but not limited to:
<bullet> Training: Providing training on software-development best
practices and the use of core software.
<bullet> Workforce support: Providing outreach and support
activities to build and maintain a diverse, skilled workforce with
opportunities for professional recognition and career advancement.
<bullet> Infrastructure: Providing infrastructure for software
packaging, hosting, testing, and other common capabilities.
<bullet> Curation: Establishing governance processes and standards
to enable resource allocation in the most-effective manner balancing
stability with the need to satisfy evolving requirements.
<bullet> Maintaining situational awareness: Defining, publishing,
and communicating understandable information about relevant software
and its dependencies; collecting information from users and deployment
requirements from facilities.
<bullet> Shared engineering resources: Providing software-
engineering resources to assist with maintenance activities of key
projects, including triaging problems from testing and adjusting for
new compilers; system-software and platform versions; and changing
package requirements.
<bullet> Project support: Providing support for the continued
development of key projects, including enhancing them to function
efficiently on new hardware platforms; take advantage of emerging
hardware and software technologies; comply with best practices; and
otherwise provide high priority features desired by other users.
Respondents of Interest: We are particularly interested in
responses from researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs, including
individuals from groups historically underrepresented in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) \5\ or from underserved
communities; \6\ incubators and accelerators; investors and funders;
businesses of all sizes; institutions of higher education; DOE National
Laboratories and other agencies' federally-funded research and
development centers (FFRDCs); \7\ other federal agencies; non-profit
organizations, professional societies, and R&D consortia; and state,
local, and
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tribal governments. Other respondents with relevant insights are
welcome to respond. When responding to this RFI, please begin by
describing how you, or your organization, are involved with activities
that involve, or benefit from, the ecosystem of scientific and high-
performance-computing software.
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\5\ According to the National Science Foundation's 2019 report
titled, ``Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science
and Engineering'', women, persons with disabilities, and
underrepresented minority groups--blacks or African Americans,
Hispanics or Latinos, and American Indians or Alaska Natives--are
vastly underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering,
and math) fields. That is, their representation in STEM education
and STEM employment is smaller than their representation in the U.S.
population: <a href="https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/about-this-report">https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/about-this-report</a>; The Computing Research Association's Taulbee Survey, <a href="https://cra.org/resources/taulbee-survey/">https://cra.org/resources/taulbee-survey/</a>, specifically confirms
underrepresentation of these same minority groups within computer-
science research.
\6\ The term ``underserved communities'' refers to populations
sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic
communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity
to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as
exemplified by those listed in the definition of ``equity.'' E.O.
13985. For purposes of this RFI, as applicable to geographic
communities, applicants can refer to economically distressed
communities identified by the Internal Revenue Service as Qualified
Opportunity Zones; communities identified as disadvantaged or
underserved communities by their respective States; communities
identified on the Index of Deep Disadvantage referenced at <a href="https://news.umich.edu/new-index-ranks-americas-100-most-disadvantaged-communities/">https://news.umich.edu/new-index-ranks-americas-100-most-disadvantaged-communities/</a>, and communities that otherwise meet the definition of
``underserved communities'' stated previously.
\7\ An authoritative list of all Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers (FFRDCs) may be found at <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/">https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/</a>.
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The information received in response to this RFI will inform, and
be considered by, the Office of Science in program planning and
development. Please be aware that this RFI is not a Funding Opportunity
Announcement, a Request for Proposals, or other form of solicitation,
or bid of DOE to fund potential research, development, planning,
centers, or other activity.
Request for Responses
ASCR is specifically interested in receiving input pertaining to
any of the following topics and questions. These categories of
questions are arranged such that the questions near the beginning of
the numbered list focus on requirements specific to individual
respondents, and questions near the end of the list focus on
requirements for the overall stewardship effort. Please be as specific
as possible in your response.
(1) Software dependencies and requirements for scientific
application development and/or research in computer science and applied
mathematics relevant to DOE's mission priorities:
What software packages and standardized languages or Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) are current or likely future dependencies
for your relevant research and development activities? What key
capabilities are provided by these software packages? What key
capabilities, which are not already present, do you anticipate
requiring within the foreseeable future? Over what timeframe can you
anticipate these requirements with high confidence? What are the most-
significant foreseeable risks associated with these dependencies and
what are your preferred mitigation strategies? When responding to these
questions, please describe the scope of the relevant research and
development activities motivating the response.
(2) Practices related to the security and integrity of software and
data:
What strategies and technology do you employ, or intend to employ
in the foreseeable future, to ensure the security and integrity of your
software and its associated provenance metadata? What capabilities do
you provide, or intend to provide in the foreseeable future, to assist
users of your software with ensuring scientific reproducibility,
recording the provenance of their work products, securing their
information, protecting the privacy of others, and maintaining the
integrity of their results?
(3) Infrastructure requirements for software development for
scientific and high-performance computing:
What infrastructure requirements do you have in order to
productively develop state-of-the-art software for scientific and high-
performance computing? These requirements might include access to
testbed hardware, testing allocations on larger-scale resources,
hosting for source-code repositories, documentation, and other
collaboration tools. What are the key capabilities provided by this
infrastructure that enables it to meet your needs? What key
capabilities, which are not already present, do you anticipate
requiring within the foreseeable future? Over what timeframe can you
anticipate these requirements with high confidence? What are the most-
significant foreseeable risks associated with this infrastructure and
what are your preferred mitigation strategies? When responding to these
questions, please describe the scope of the relevant research and
development activities motivating the response.
(4) Developing and maintaining community software:
How much additional effort is needed to develop and maintain
software packages for use by the wider community above the effort
needed to develop and maintain software packages solely for use in
specific research projects or for internal use? What tasks are the
largest contributors to that additional effort? What are the largest
non-monetary impediments to performing this additional work? How is any
such additional effort currently funded? How does that funding compare
to a level of funding needed to maximize impact?
(5) Challenges in building a diverse workforce and maintaining an
inclusive professional environment:
What challenges do you face in recruiting and retaining talented
professionals to develop software for scientific and high-performance
computing? What additional challenges exist in recruiting and retaining
talented professionals from groups historically underrepresented in
STEM and/or individuals from underserved communities? What challenges
exist in maintaining inclusivity and equity \8\ in the development
community for scientific and high-performance-computing software? What
successful strategies have you employed to help overcome these
challenges? What opportunities for professional recognition and career
advancement exist for those engaged in developing scientific and high-
performance-computing software?
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\8\ The term ``equity'' means the consistent and systematic
fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including
individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been
denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and
Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and
other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with
disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise
adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Executive
Order 13985, ``Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved
Communities Through the Federal Government'' (January 20, 2021).
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(6) Requirements, barriers, and challenges to technology transfer,
and building communities around software projects, including forming
consortia and other non-profit organizations:
ASCR recognizes that successful software for scientific and high-
performance computing often has many stakeholders, including academic
research activities, research laboratories, and industry. Moreover,
while DOE has provided funding for the development of a significant
number of foundational software packages within the modern software
ecosystem for scientific and high-performance computing, as the
complexity of the software ecosystem continues to increase, and number
of stakeholders has grown, ASCR seeks to understand how it might
encourage sustainable, resilient, and diversified funding and
development models for the already-successful software within the
ecosystem. Such models include, depending on circumstances that ASCR
seeks to better understand, both the private sector and non-profit
organizations. Non-profit organizations include both charitable
organizations (e.g., those with 501(c)(3) status) and R&D consortia
(e.g., those with 501(c)(6) status). What are the important
characteristics and components of sustainable models for software for
scientific and high-performance computing? What are key obstacles,
impediments, or bottlenecks to the establishment and success of these
models? What development practices and other factors tend to facilitate
successful establishment of these models?
(7) Overall scope of the stewardship effort:
The section labeled Potential Scope, mentioned earlier in the RFI,
outlines activities that ASCR currently anticipates potentially
including in future programs stewarding the software ecosystem for
scientific and high-
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performance computing. Are there activities that should be added to, or
removed from, this list? Are there specific requirements that should be
associated with any of these activities to ensure their success and
maximize their impact?
(8) Management and oversight structure of the stewardship effort:
What do you anticipate will be effective models for management and
oversight of the scientific and high-performance-computing software
ecosystem, and how would that management structure most-effectively
interact with DOE and other stakeholders? In addition to DOE, who are
the key stakeholders? How can the management structure coordinate with
DOE user facilities and others to provide access to relevant testbed
systems and other necessary infrastructure?
(9) Assessment and criteria for success for the stewardship effort:
What kinds of metrics or criteria would be useful in measuring the
success of software stewardship efforts in scientific and high-
performance computing and its impact on your scientific fields or
industries?
(10) Other:
What are key obstacles, impediments, or bottlenecks to progress by,
and success of, future development of software for scientific and high-
performance computing? Are there other factors, issues, or
opportunities, not addressed by the questions above, which should be
considered in the context of stewardship of the ecosystem of software
for scientific and high-performance computing?
Comments containing references, studies, research, and other
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of
the referenced materials. Note that comments will be made publicly
available as submitted. Any information that may be confidential and
exempt by law from public disclosure should be submitted as described
below.
Confidential Business Information: Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any
person submitting information he or she believes to be confidential and
exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via email: One copy
of the document marked ``confidential'' including all the information
believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-
confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential
deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential
status of the information and treat it according to its determination.
Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat submitted
information as confidential include: (1) A description of the items,
(2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as confidential
within the industry, (3) whether the information is generally known by
or available from other sources, (4) whether the information has
previously been made available to others without obligation concerning
confidentiality, (5) an explanation of the competitive injury to the
submitting person which would result from public disclosure, (6) when
such information might lose its confidential character due to the
passage of time, and (7) why disclosure of the information would be
contrary to the public interest.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on October 22,
2021, by Dr. J. Stephen Binkley, Acting Director, Office of Science,
pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That
document with the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For
administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of
the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal
Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the
document in electronic format for publication, as an official document
of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no way
alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the
Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on October 26, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-23582 Filed 10-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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