The engine of change for the next revolution is cyberinfrastructure, a comprehensive phenomenon that involves the creation, dissemination, preservation, and application of knowledge. It adds new dimensions that greatly increase transformational potential. Cyberinfrastructure combines complex elements to create a dynamic system. It eclipses its many hardware and software components to enable people and their interactions with technology to become the central focus. At the heart of the cyberinfrastructure vision are cultural communities that support peer-to-peer collaboration and new modes of education. They are distributed-knowledge communities in an institutional context, not of bricks and mortar like the traditional university, but rather virtual organizations that work across institutional boundaries--and ultimately around the globe.