Overview

In mid-2014, the National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a Request for Input entitled, Accelerating the Big Data Innovation Ecosystem, to explore the establishment of a national network of ”Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs”. These hubs would help scale up the activities and partnerships established over the past 3 years by the National Big Data R&D Initiative, as well as stimulate new regional and grassroots partnerships in this field. They could help accelerate Big Data solutions to global and societal challenges by convening stakeholders across sectors to partner in results-driven programs and projects; act as a matchmaker among the various academic, industry, and community stakeholders to help drive successful pilot programs; help share best practices; help accelerate technology transfer between universities, public and private research centers and laboratories, large enterprises, and small- and medium-sized businesses; facilitate engagement with opinion and thought leaders on the societal impact of Big Data technologies; and support education and training in the new interdisciplinary field of Data Science.

A series of four intensive planning activities (charrettes) were held in early 2015 with the objective of bringing together various stakeholders in order to map solutions paths. USENIX conducted these charrettes to bring together academic, non-profit, governmental, and business communities throughout the country to form grassroots regional partnerships to foster and propel Big Data approaches across all sectors. These communities represented stakeholders in the Big Data ecosystem, including corporations, universities, philanthropies, non-profits, and state and local governments.

Each charrette was an intensive, one-day design and planning workshop with the objective of convening stakeholders in that region around a common set of Big Data challenges —particularly those that were especially relevant to that region. Each charrette helped establish a regional consortium to build upon existing efforts within the region.

The charrettes took place within the defined regions of the West, Midwest, South, and Northeast[1]. The NSF Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs National Meeting took place November 3-5, 2015, in Arlington, Virginia, where this video was recorded:

Questions? Contact bdhubs15questions@usenix.org.

Travel Reimbursement for National Meeting Participants

Travel expenses for representatives of nonprofit and educational institutions may be reimbursed at the discretion of the steering committee and are subject to availability of funds. Please consult the travel reimbursement instructions for details, and submit your request and receipts by December 11, 2015.

 

[1]The regional breakdown of US states and the District of Columbia is as follows (adapted from https://www.census.gov/econ/census/help/geography/regions_and_divisions.html)

  • NORTHEAST: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont;
  • MIDWEST: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin;
  • SOUTH: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; and
  • WEST: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Representation from stakeholders based in US territories not listed above is welcome and encouraged in proposals for any region. Identification of such an organization with an appropriate region is at the discretion of that organization, as organizations may define regions differently and/or operate within multiple regions.

Attendee Lists

Attendee lists are available for download.