An ad hoc planning committee will plan and conduct a 1-day public workshop that will convene stakeholders involved in cloud-based neuroscience initiatives and research. The workshop will explore the burgeoning use of cloud technology to advance neuroscience research and share approaches to addressing current barriers. Participants will include individuals from academia, government, foundations, pharmaceutical and information technology industries, and the legal system.
Invited presentations and discussions will be designed to:

• Review the landscape of major neuroscience cloud-based initiatives and other uses of cloud technology within neuroscience research.

• Discuss aspirational goals for maximizing benefit from neuroscience data and compute in the cloud by empowering broad and meaningful data sharing and fostering open science.

• Consider best practices and policies that would increase efficiencies and data protection within and across cloud neuroscience resources, including around aspects such as: consent and data use agreements; authorization for and accessibility to a variety of data types by a variety of users; protection of privacy; assignment of credit, ownership, and licensing; technical issues; and researcher support and training.

• Explore potential next steps to move the field forward and develop and deploy best practices and policies in the service of achieving the aspirational goals.

The planning committee will develop the agenda for the workshop, select and invite speakers and discussants, and moderate the discussions. A proceedings of the presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.