Nearly every research field and industry sector is struggling with extracting useful information from massive and dynamic data in a timely way. Developing tools and technologies in this realm of real-time and accelerated analytics contributes to promoting the progress of science and to advancing the national prosperity and welfare. Success in this realm hinges on balancing fundamental research, technological know-how, and commercial market intelligence. To address this challenge, this project joins industry members with academic centers to conduct multidisciplinary science and research towards extracting value from massive and moving data and enabling better decision making of complex, dynamic data.
The Center of Accelerated Real Time Analytics (CARTA) project explores the ways in which relatively high-risk fundamental developments can be leveraged to help organizations that have longer-term, more complex analytic needs. The focus of CARTA is on horizontal foundational technologies that would create an infrastructure capable of powering applications of national significance. In this context, at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the CARTA/UMBC site will focus on developing next generation cognitive/self-learning systems that will leverage high performance computing and quantum computing platforms, to facilitate real-time critical decision making. Having these technologies and systems will be key in achieving the goals of the overall CARTA center.
The broader impact of the work of the CARTA center will be in addressing the future advanced, real-time analytics needs of the industry and society. The techniques developed by CARTA can be applied across industry sectors, including national security, healthcare, manufacturing, energy, and business intelligence. The fundamental research done at CARTA will be translated into technology developments, delivering practical solutions to hard problems. The ultimate success of this paradigm shift by the analytics industry will rest on the ability of CARTA universities to prepare experts to take advantage of the science and technologies to solve a variety of real-life applications.
CARTA research may involve sensitive academic and industrial data along with public domain data. This data and resulting research outputs will be maintained using appropriate best practices for each type of data for a period of three years after the closing of CARTA. A central repository, suitably tagged for appropriate referencing and documentation, will be set up at https://carta.umbc.edu for maintaining the acquired and generated data from Center projects. Project results will be made available in response to approved user requests.
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.
