In the Media: Internet2’s Dana Brunson on National Resources and RCD Professionals as Research Force Multipliers

From model training to inference and real-world application, artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how and where universities run compute-intensive research workloads. Hybrid infrastructure is increasingly at the center of that conversation.

EdTech: Focus on Higher Education recently interviewed Dana Brunson, executive director for research engagement at Internet2, about how institutions are balancing on-premises, edge, cloud, and national resources to support modern research demands. The discussion, which also includes insights from two Internet2 higher education member institutions, highlights both the technical and human factors shaping cyberinfrastructure strategies.

For the human factor, Brunson points to research computing and data (RCD) professionals as force multipliers who bridge silos and orchestrate access.

“One good facilitator can steer dozens of researchers, educators, and their research teams to the right mix of resources, and that saves money that otherwise would go in the wrong direction,” Brunson said.

She also raises the importance of national resources such as the NSF-funded National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) and ACCESS. Both are transformative for broadening participation and closing institutional gaps in AI access and capabilities.

Ultimately, Brunson notes that keeping pace with rapidly changing demands requires collaboration across institutions.

“Technology’s changing so fast that no single person can possibly keep up,” Brunson added. “Every campus benefits from being part of a larger conversation.”

Read the story in EdTech, Hybrid Infrastructure Powers University Research.

ICYMI

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