Convergence: The Catalyst to Transform Scientific Research

International Public Sector Cloud Computing Summit in DC

By G C Network | March 7, 2012

Next week at the Hyatt Regency in reston, Virginia, the Cloud Standards Customer Council will be holding it’s Public Sector Cloud Summit. This two day cloud event will feature international public sector Cloud…

Jill T. Singer, NRO CIO, Named One of 10 Top Women in Cloud Computing !!

By G C Network | February 17, 2012

CONGRATULATIONS to National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) CIO Jill T. Singer for being selected as one of the 10 winners of the first annual CloudNOW awards presented at the Cloud Connect Conference in…

NJVC® and Virtual Global Announce Release of PaaS White Paper: Paper Clarifies the Confusion Surrounding PaaS for Federal IT Buyers—Why It Is Important and How It Can Cut Development Costs by 50 Percent

By G C Network | January 27, 2012

VIENNA, Va., Jan. 23, 2012 —NJVC®, one of the largest information technology solutions providers supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, and Virtual Global, a premier provider of software and cloud…

December 2011: GovCloud Moves From Policy to Law

By G C Network | December 27, 2011

Over the past years, government cloud computing has steadily moved forward from it’s early beginnings as an interesting curiosity: December 23, 2008 – Now really. Should the Obama administration use…

GovCloud.com !! The New Hub for Government Cloud Computing

By G C Network | November 17, 2011

It gives me great pleasure to announce the relaunch of GovCloud.com! GovCloud is the “go to” place for everything related to federal cloud computing. Our mission is to help federal…

Backupify Names Top 10 Cloud Computing Experts to Follow on Twitter

By G C Network | November 15, 2011

THANK YOU BACKUPIFY!!!! Thank you for the honor of being on your Top 10 List! Backupify is the leading backup provider for cloud based data, offering an all-in-one archiving, search…

NJVC® Cloud Computing Expert Kevin Jackson to Speak at NIST Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop IV on Nov. 3 in Gaithersburg, Md.

By G C Network | October 29, 2011

VIENNA, Va., Oct. 28, 2011 — NJVC®, one of the largest information technology solutions providers supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) , is pleased to announce that Kevin Jackson,…

NJVC® General Manager, Cloud Services, Kevin Jackson to Moderate “Cloud Computing and the Intelligence Mission” Panel at GEOINT 2011 Symposium

By G C Network | October 18, 2011

Vienna, Va., Oct. 13, 2011 — NJVC® , one of the largest information technology (IT) solutions providers supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, is pleased to announce that Kevin Jackson,…

NJVC® Spotlights Cyber Security and Automated IT at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo® 2011

By G C Network | October 14, 2011

VIENNA, Va., Oct. 4, 2011 — NJVC®, one of the largest information technology solutions providers supporting the Department of Defense, announces its lineup for the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo®, Oct. 16 –…

NJVC® to Demonstrate Enterprise Automation at GEOINT 2011

By G C Network | October 10, 2011

VIENNA, Va., Oct. 6, 2011 — NJVC®, one of the largest information technology solutions (IT) providers supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), is pleased to offer live, compelling demonstrations…


by Melvin Greer
 Greer Institute for Leadership and Innovation
A new transformative research approach is gaining global attention and adoption. The scientific opportunities enabled by convergence—the coming together of insights and approaches from originally distinct fields—will make fundamental contributions in our drive to provide creative solutions to the most difficult problems facing us as a society. This convergence provides power to think beyond usual paradigms and to approach issues informed by many perspectives instead of few.
Two entities converge when advances and time channel them to the same point. This is an appropriate way to characterize and address converging research in life sciences and engineering, computation, and physical sciences. Convergence  is an approach to problem solving that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. It integrates knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking from life and health sciences, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences, engineering disciplines, and beyond to form a comprehensive synthetic framework for tackling scientific and societal challenges that exist at the interfaces of multiple fields.
Advanced technologies (i.e. big data, cloud, and high performance computing) are accelerating the impact and innovation obtained via convergence of biology and data science.  With nearly $450 billion annually in research expenditures, Arizona State University is a research leader, partnering with companies like Dell and Intel to transform scientific research.
Their complex adaptive systems initiative is harnessing the power of advanced technologies to accelerate big data and high performance computing research in complex adaptive systems. They are making medical breakthroughs in areas of cancer and diabetes research.
I’m very excited about the opportunities to investigate the transformative benefits of convergence. My participation in The National Academy of Science expert committee to explore the application of convergence approaches to biomedical research and beyond is a critical first step. This approach is intended to realize the untapped potential from the merger of multiple disciplines to address key challenges that require such close collaborations. One example of the high impact transformation is my research investigation into the impact of synthetic biology on effective utilization of green IT and energy development and deployment systems. Its primary focus is on development of a synthetically generated DNA BioFab that enhances the photosynthetic properties of algae. This research will report on the process of synthetic engineering of natural occurring DNA for a specific purpose, in this case sustainable energy.
Bringing together the insights enabled by rapid progress across multiple disciplines has the potential to transform science for the benefit of society. Its critical we bring awareness of this convergence to a wider range of audiences and stakeholders and catalyze the systematic efforts necessary to harness its power most effectively.
(This post was written as part of the Dell Insight Partners program, which provides news and analysis about the evolving world of tech. To learn more about tech news and analysis visit Tech Page One. Dell sponsored this article, but the opinions are our own and don’t necessarily represent Dell’s positions or strategies.)

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