This article is published in the November 2015 issue.

NSF/CISE Continues to Lead Efforts to Spur Data Science Innovation

By: Jim Kurose, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation for Computer and Information Science and EngineeringIn: /

nsf logo

Launched earlier this year, the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs) program aims to create an agile and sustainable national Big Data innovation ecosystem that enables the United States to better leverage Big Data technologies and techniques in addressing societal challenges, increasing productivity and spurring economic development. The BD Hubs program continues, and scales up, the activities of the National Big Data Research and Development Initiative, launched by the White House in 2012.

NSF recently announced four hubs, one in each of the four regions of the United States (as determined by the US Census):

  • The South Hub, encompassing 16 states and the District of Columbia, will be jointly coordinated by the University of North Carolina and Georgia Tech. It initially plans to pursue regional priorities including healthcare and health disparities, coastal hazards, industrial big data, materials and manufacturing, and habitat planning.
  • The Northeast Hub, containing 9 states, will be coordinated by Columbia University. Priority areas identified by the hub include energy, finance, data science for education, and climate and the environment.
  • The Midwest Hub covers 12 states and will be coordinated by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Included among its priority areas are agriculture; the food, energy and water nexus; and smart cities. It will also work closely with the National Data Service, another data-centric consortium.
  • The West Hub covers 13 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. It will be jointly coordinated by the University of California, San Diego, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington. The West Hub will focus on priority areas including Big Data technologies, data-intensive discovery, managing natural resources and hazards, and precision medicine.

More information about the BD Hubs can be found via the NSF awards database and at http://bdhub.info.

CCC Horizontal logoTo facilitate long-term partnerships to promote the goals of each BD Hub, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is sponsoring a program for the BD Hubs specifically to bring together academic and industry researchers, including those early in their careers.

NSF also recently announced the release of a new “Big Data Spokes” (BD Spokes) solicitation, Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications, that kicks off the next phase of the BD Hubs program. It aims to support research in various sectors of particular interest to each BD Hub and advance innovation in that sector and region.

Whereas the BD Hubs awards are organization-building in nature, the BD Spokes will be mission-based with foci on three main topic areas: automation of the data lifecycle; improving access to data; and the application of data science for domain science and societal impact. BD Spokes projects are meant to grow the community and drive innovation on projects with specific outcomes and metrics of success. Each BD Spoke will work in concert with a BD Hub on articulated regional challenges and opportunities. In particular, NSF welcomes submissions addressing the following areas of emphasis:

  • Neuroscience;
  • Replicability and Reproducibility in Data Science;
  • Smart and Connected Communities;
  • Data Privacy;
  • Data-Intensive Research in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; and

It’s important to note that these areas of emphasis are not meant to be exclusive.

Connecting stakeholders across sectors—government, academia, and industry—is crucial to maintaining and expanding the growing national Big Data innovation ecosystem. The Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs and their directed Spokes collectively constitute an exciting effort that will play a central role in realizing these partnerships. I invite the CISE community to continue to work with us—and with colleagues in other disciplines—to broadly spur data science innovation.

The Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs) program continues and scales up the innovation activities initiated by the White House in 2012 with the National Big Data Research and Development Initiative. The overarching vision for the network of BD Hubs is to create an agile and sustainable national Big Data innovation ecosystem that enables the United States to better leverage Big Data technologies and techniques in addressing societal challenges, increasing productivity and spurring economic development, enhancing scientific discovery, and providing for national defense and security.

The four hubs are based in the four regions of the United States (as determined by the US Census):

  • The South Hub, encompassing 16 states and the District of Columbia, will be jointly coordinated by the University of North Carolina and Georgia Tech. It initially plans to pursue regional priorities including healthcare and health disparities, coastal hazards, industrial big data, materials and manufacturing, and habitat planning.
  • The Northeast Hub, containing 9 states, will be coordinated by Columbia University. Priority areas identified by the hub include energy, finance, data science for education, and climate and the environment.
  • The Midwest Hub covers 12 states and will be coordinated by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Included among its priority areas are agriculture; the food, energy and water nexus; and smart cities. It will also work closely with the National Data Service, another data-centric consortium.
  • The West Hub covers 13 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. It will be jointly coordinated by the University of California, San Diego, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington. The West Hub will focus on priority areas including Big Data technologies, data-intensive discovery, managing natural resources and hazards, and precision medicine.

More information about the BD Hubs can be found via the NSF awards search and at http://bdhub.info.

Big Data Spokes

NSF also announced the release of a new “Big Data Spokes” (BD Spokes) solicitation, Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications, that kicks off the next phase of the BD Hubs program. It aims to support research in various sectors of particular interest to each BD Hub and advance innovation in that sector within the region.

Whereas the Hubs awards are organization-building in nature, the Spokes will be mission-based and will focus on three main topic areas: automation of data lifecycle; improving access to data; and the application of data science for domain science and societal impact. BD Spoke projects are meant to build community and drive innovation on projects with specific outcomes and metrics of success. Each BD Spoke is to work in concert with a BD Hub on articulated regional challenges and opportunities. In particular, NSF welcomes submissions addressing the following areas of emphasis:

  • Neuroscience;
  • Replicability and Reproducibility in Data Science;
  • Smart and Connected Communities;
  • Data Privacy;
  • Data Intensive Research in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; and

Connecting stakeholders across sectors—government, academia, or industry—is crucial to maintain and expand the growing national Big Data innovation ecosystem. The Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs and their directed Spokes will play a central role in making these partnerships happen.