Cloud Forum
Call for Proposals

The Cloud Forum 2026 Call for Proposals is now open

The annual Cloud Forum is a vital component of the research and education community’s ongoing cloud conversation. It is a venue for important conversations about the use of hyperscale infrastructure to support and advance the mission of the research and education community.

Eligibility

Proposals to the Cloud Forum are only accepted from members of the research and education communities. No proposals from vendors or with vendors will be considered.

Types of Proposals

At the Cloud Forum we like to hear from those building and managing cloud environments and solutions in the research and education community as well as those whose work is enabled or accelerated by hyper-scale technologies. This work can be commercial or academic cloud platforms.

• Cloud Proposals, submitted by those involved in enabling, supporting, managing, strategizing, or maybe just thoughtfully admiring the use of cloud computing in the research and education community. These make up the bulk of Cloud Forum content. The presentation format options are described below.
• Research Proposals, submitted by researchers leveraging cloud infrastructure to accelerate, analyze, or otherwise superpower their work.

Cloud Proposals

We encourage you to think expansively about topics worthy of sharing. Each year presenters share their challenges and frustrations, their successes and lessons, their ideas and inspirations. The work you are doing is not only relatable to your peers, but validating and impactful.

Presentation Formats

The Cloud Forum is an event designed for discussion and debate around the challenges and best practices of cloud infrastructure enablement at education institutions and organizations of all sizes. The content is driven in large part by the experiences and plans of the attendees.

The program consists of attendee presentations on topics of broad interest, lightning talks on the activities and ideas of the attending institutions, and multi-institutional panels for deep exploration of a single topic. In addition, the Forum includes an unconference where attendees will have the opportunity to bring their own topic, brainstorm with others, and report out to the group in short “Cloudburst” presentations. This year’s Cloud Forum will also feature a workshop to develop a higher ed cloud maturity model.

Suggested Themes

The Cloud Forum focuses on a higher-level strategic perspective rather than deep technical issues. The more technical cloud topics are discussed in the cloud track at the Internet2 Technology Exchange. To better understand the difference between the target audience, focus, and “vibe” of the community-driven cloud events, read the blog post Strengthening Your Head, Heart, and Hands: The Big 3 Conferences in Higher Ed Cloud. 

We welcome any topic you may wish to propose, but some trending topic areas you might consider include:

• Research work enabled by hyper-scale technologies
• Multi-cloud management (tools, strategies, staffing, etc.)
• Building from FinOps to CloudOps and the role of governance in account provisioning
• Configuration and management of controlled data environments (CMMC, GovCloud, etc.)
• The role of cloud in responding to campus and research demands for Generative AI tools
• Staffing, training, and cross-organizational collaboration challenges
• Supporting the use of cloud for research and teaching
• Successes, challenges, and failures when working with external contractors and cloud vendors
• Cloud Security – enhancing security and visibility across your multi-cloud estate
• Interoperability of multiple cloud solutions

These ideas are included merely to inspire the thought process. Your peers want to hear what shapes your thinking and actions in the cloud. What are you waiting for? Submit a Cloud proposal now!

Research Proposals

The amount of important, innovative, and life-changing work being done across the academic research community is staggering. Sometimes the limitations of technology constrains researchers ability to fully realize their ideas. They have to craft their problem, to fit the box. However, often the right supporting technologies allow the researcher to move forward in ways we could not have imagined before. Hyperscale platforms and the advances in tooling created by the cloud service providers, create the ability for the researchers to build the box to fit their problem.

“The experience of meeting cloud IT professionals from universities all around the country allowed me to learn a lot about how to most effectively manage my lab’s cloud computing workflow. As an increasing number of research labs leverage cloud computing as central aspects of their research program, it becomes crucial to set up privacy-aware, cost-effective, scalable, and efficient workflows. The lessons I learned at the Cloud Forum will help my lab to stay up-to-date with best practices while maintaining security and saving some costs.” – Professor Peter Washington, University of Hawaii

Each year the Cloud Forum solicits presentation proposals from researchers who leverage hyperscale technologies (public or academic cloud) to enable or accelerate their work.  The cloud professionals who attend the Forum find inspiration in the research cloud technologies help enable. It reinforces the importance of the work they do. The researchers who present at the Cloud Forum and stay to engage find it a very rewarding experience as well.

“I had the great pleasure of attending the most recent Cloud Forum for Higher Education as a researcher. I truthfully didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned across three days of informative presentations and productive group discussions. The Cloud Forum is well-organized and full of kind, thoughtful, and engaged cloud technologists. I left the Forum with several new ideas to bring to my research team, as well as a deeper appreciation for the critical role that university IT professionals play in supporting and amplifying our research.he experience of meeting cloud IT professionals from universities all around the country allowed me to learn a lot about how to most effectively manage my lab’s cloud computing workflow. As an increasing number of research labs leverage cloud computing as central aspects of their research program, it becomes crucial to set up privacy-aware, cost-effective, scalable, and efficient workflows. The lessons I learned at the Cloud Forum will help my lab to stay up-to-date with best practices while maintaining security and saving some costs.” – Professor Su Ann Burtner, Northwestern University

If your research is cloud-powered, or at least cloud-enhanced, if you are intrigued by the idea of talking a little tech with the cloud teams to see if there are ways we can help you take it to the next level, we encourage you to submit a proposal and share your work with the cloud community.

Logistics

All presentations must be delivered in person at the Cloud Forum in Madison. The Cloud Forum has no registration fee and most meals are provided. There are no stipends or travel funds to support speaker attendance. It is each presenter’s responsibility to fund their own travel and hotel.

If you have questions before or after you submit your proposal, please reach out to Cloud Forum chair Bob Flynn (bflynn@internet2.edu).