This project builds on a prior Midwest Big Data Hub effort. In 2015 stakeholders in the Midwest region of the United States formed a consortium of partners and working groups called the Midwest Big Data Hub (MBDH). MBDH aimed to help member organizations working in Big Data coordinate current activities and launch new collaborative projects. The project included stakeholders in the twelve states of the Midwest Census region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) and six leading universities that support hundreds of researchers, technologists, and students. This hub provides a basis for collaboration and outreach that increases the potential for benefitting society.
The current award is a collaboration among five academic sites (Indiana University, Iowa State University, UIUC/NCSA, the University of Michigan, the University of North Dakota, and the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities). The project focuses on priority areas that are important to the region and can also be influential on the national stage. - The five thematic areas of focus, and the institutional partner leading that thematic area, are: Digital Agriculture (led by Iowa State); Smart, Connected, and Resilient Communities (Indiana University); Water Quality (University of Minnesota); Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (UIUC); and Health and Biomedicine (University of Michigan). - Three cross-cutting areas that are emphasized across the project are: data science education and workforce development; cyberinfrastructure, data access and use; and communication and community development. The priority areas have regional relevance and also have the prospect for integration into societal contexts at the national level. The overall goal is to enable the use of existing and emerging cyberinfrastructure and best practices to improve access to and use of data. The project plans to reach out to the Midwest community at large and to connect people, resources, and organizations. Ties to Big Data Hubs in three other regions provide a means to advance knowledge across these fields at the national level.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
