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May 19 – 21, 2026 | University of Wisconsin-Madison

2026 Cloud Forum Schedule

For Higher Ed,
By Higher Ed

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Event Location

With the exception of Monday’s reception, all Cloud Forum 2026 activities, including meals, will take place at the Fluno Center.

Monday, 5/18

Date/Time (EDT)SessionSession Assets
6 – 7:30 p.m.Opening Reception in the Mendota Room in Smitty’s Study Pub in the Fluno Center

Tuesday, 5/19

Date/Time (EDT)SessionSession Assets
8 – 9 a.m.Breakfast and Check-in at Howard Auditorium in the Fluno Center
9 – 9:45 a.m.Opening Remarks and Survey Review
9:45 – 10:15 a.m.Presentation: “A Journey into the Cloud for Science: Lessons Learned from Salk’s Cloud Acceleration Program for Biology“
Jerry Sheehan, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.Break
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.Presentation: “N2P: A National Research Cloud Service Tailored for Brazilian Scientists“
Sergio Leal Fonseca, Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa
11:15 – 11:45 a.m.Presentation: “Skyway: A Seamless Platform that Democratizes Cloud Computing for Researchers“
Trung Nguyen, University of Chicago
11:45 a.m. – 12 p.m.Break
12 – 12:30 p.m.Presentation: “Opening Up Research Cloud Without Losing Control“
Geert Soet, SURF (Netherlands)
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.Lunch
1:30 – 2:15 p.m.Panel: “Modernize Now, Migrate Later: A discussion on Kubernetes as a Cloud Readiness Strategy“
Phil Fenstermacher, William & Mary
2:15 – 2:30 p.m.Break
2:30 – 3 p.m.Presentation: “Automating CMMC Compliance in Research Clouds: An AI-Powered Framework from DoD-Funded Work“
Holly Yuan, University of Wisconsin-Stout
3 – 3:30 p.m.Presentation: “No More Clickbait: CI/CD for Your Multi-Account AWS Infrastructure“
Jared Bulosan & James Smith, University of Notre Dame
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.Break
3:45 – 5 p.m.Lightning Talks
6 – 8 p.m.Cloud Forum Dinner at Tripp Commons in the Memorial Union

Wednesday, 5/20

Date/Time (EDT)SessionSession Assets
8 – 9 a.m.Breakfast at Howard Auditorium in the Fluno Center
9 – 10:30 a.m.Cloud Maturity Model Workshop part 1
10:30 – 11 a.m.Break
11 – 12:30 p.m.Cloud Maturity Model Workshop part 2
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.Lunch
1:30 – 2:15 p.m.Panel: “Panel: Exploring Strategies for Institutional Cloud Billing“
Chris Manly, Internet2
2:15 – 2:30 p.m.Break
2:30 – 3 p.m.Presentation: “Rebuilding Cost Models: How FinOps Helped APTrust Shape a Sustainable Business Strategy for Long-Term Preservation“
Allison (Flavia) Ruffner, APTrust (UVA)
3 – 3:30 p.m.Presentation: “Cloud FinOps Lite – Practical Examples for Immediate Cost Savings“
John Bailey, Washington University in St. Louis
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.Break
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.Unconference
Dinner on your own

Thursday, 5/21

Date/Time (EDT)SessionSession Assets
8 – 9 a.m.Breakfast at Howard Auditorium in the Fluno Center
9 – 9:30 a.m.Presentation: “From On-Prem to Cloud First in Less Than a Year“
Phil Fenstermacher, William & Mary
9:30 – 10 a.m.Presentation: “From Data Centers to Cloud Excellence: How George Washington University Transformed IT Infrastructure and Unlocked University-Wide Operational Efficiency“
Anna Vakulick, The George Washington University
10 – 10:15 a.m.Break
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.Presentation: “What if? You Started Your Cloud Use Today“
David Lacey, The Getty
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.Presentation: “Starting in the Cloud to Change the Data Center: Using Diffusion of Innovation to Modernize Enterprise IT“
James Bennett, Indiana University
11:15 – 11:30 a.m.Break
11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.Presentation: “Breaking Cloud Lock-In: A Multicloud Framework for Sovereign Development with Free Software“
Sergio Leal Fonseca, Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa
12 – 12:30 p.m.Presentation: “The CloudMinder Journey at Penn State“
Rick Rhoades, Penn State
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.Lunch
1:30 – 2:15 p.m.Panel: “Co-Piloting the Cloud: How R&E Teams Are Leveraging GitHub Copilot, Amazon Q, and LLMs to Accelerate Cloud Operations“
Jared Bulosan & James Smith, University of Notre Dame
2:15 – 2:30 p.m.Break
2:30 – 3 p.m.Presentation: “Building Reliable AI Evaluators“
Tim Manik, Internet2
3 – 3:30 p.m.Presentation: “Backbone or Back Pain: Organizing Cloud Operations When Cloud Becomes Everything“
Kari Robertson, University of California Office of the President
Damian Doyle, University of Virginia
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.Break
3:45 – 4:30 p.m.Vendor Panel
4:30 – 5 p.m.Closing



Cloud Forum Timeline

  • Call for Proposals Opens: Monday, November 3, 2025
  • Call for Proposals Closes: Monday, Dec 15, 2025
  • Speaker Notification: Monday, Jan 19, 2026
  • Speaker Response Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2026
  • Full Schedule Posted: Monday, February 16, 2026
  • Registration Opens: Monday, February 16, 2026
  • Cloud Forum Convenes: May 19 – 21, 2026