“In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
It is an exciting time to be a subsurface scientist. Studying the earth makes you familiar with the idea that the world is continually changing. The pace of change is usually gradual, but occasionally there are periods of intense transition. The changes in the economy, technology, and society have affected many aspects of our lives. Digital tools have been augmenting our workflows with machine intelligence. Remote work and online collaboration is now a reality for many of us. The energy transition is real even if the outcome is uncertain. The skill and experience profile required for a successful subsurface science career today is quite different than it was even five years ago, and it continues to evolve.
The Software Underground (or Swung, as it has come to be known) is a community of digital subsurface science enthusiasts — students, academics and professionals who make and use open digital tools to study the subsurface. Swung too has changed considerably from its humble beginning in 2014 as a mailing list of a couple of dozen people. It has become a thriving online community of over 2400 members who share the understanding that digital technology and subsurface science are no longer separable. Humanity needs digital-first earth science.
The Software Underground has organized events and activities to nurture this community. Hackathons and meetups are happening in cities all over the world. A popular conversation topic recently has been about what the professional societies have been doing to reflect this change and support our careers. They have made some attempts, but generally haven’t kept up with the pace of change. We realized we could do something about it.
One of the Software Underground events in 2019 — the first Transform conference
The new society
We are happy to announce that the Software Underground is now officially registered as a non-profit organization with the following stated purposes:
Serving and growing an online community of practice.
Organizing, and supporting community organization of, educational events such as conferences, meetings, meet-ups, courses, hackathons.
Maintaining, and supporting community maintenance of, open-access educational resources for the community.
Publishing an open-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
Building relationships with industry and academia to promote the professional interests of our members.
Initially, we are required to name some founding directors, to kick things off and get the society started. We will have elections at the first Annual General Meeting for a more democratic approach to selecting directors. The founding directors are:
Filippo Broggini
Jesper Dramsch
Brendon Hall
Matt Hall
Steve Purves
Chance Sanger
Jo Walsh
Dieter Werthmüller
If you are already a member, and are content with the conversations on Slack, nothing will change. But if you want to see more happening in the community, we’re ready to support you. If you would like to get involved building the Software Underground join the conversation on the #swung-org channel.
Can’t wait to get started? You’re in luck: today, we are kicking off our biggest event ever — Transform 2020 — a week-long celebration of digital geoscience, with hackathons, tutorials, lightning talks, and group discussions. Don’t miss it!
