{"id":357,"date":"2019-02-12T11:12:06","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T11:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2019\/02\/12\/how-data-helps-us-think-and-do\/"},"modified":"2019-02-12T11:12:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T11:12:06","slug":"how-data-helps-us-think-and-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2019\/02\/12\/how-data-helps-us-think-and-do\/","title":{"rendered":"How Data Helps Us Think and Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

What informs the decisions that impact 45,000 NC State students, faculty and staff? How do we figure out the best ways to address society\u2019s grand challenges on a local and global scale?<\/span><\/p>\n

We tackle these complex questions every day at NC State through our teaching, research and service. Our solutions, while multi-faceted, are often informed by \u201cbig data.\u201d Upon first hearing the term, however, many people are left with a question.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Big Data?<\/h3>\n

\u201c\u2018Big data\u2019 describes the modern everyday reality in which an abundance of rapidly accumulating data is a common characteristic of organizations and professional occupations,\u201d said Michael Rappa, founding director of NC State\u2019s Institute for Advanced Analytics. \u201cThe data are, of course, digitized, and can be in various forms, such as numerical, text, sound, and images. A defining feature of big data is how it pushes the boundaries of computational and analytical methods given its volume, velocity, and variety \u2014 the amount of data in a set, the rate at which data is received, and the types of data available.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Data at NC State<\/h3>\n

The <\/span>first North American university to establish an IBM Q Hub<\/span><\/a>, NC State will boost its big data expertise through use of <\/span>IBM\u2019s quantum computing systems. Quantum computers on campus will give researchers the ability to analyze big data too large and complex for traditional computers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quantum computing holds the potential for NC State to use data analysis to drive solutions to global health, supply chain management, economic and technological issues and many more challenges. Of course, the university already maintains a strong presence in the big data field, evidenced in the work of units like the <\/span>Institute for Advanced Analytics<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Data-Driven Science faculty cluster<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Data Science Initiative<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Laboratory for Analytic Sciences<\/span><\/a>, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Institute for Advanced Analytics debuted the nation’s first full-fledged masters program focused on big data in 2007, with the generous support of Jim Goodnight, co-founder of SAS. The Institute has done much to define the field of analytics and data science \u2014 essentially creating a template for graduate education around the world. There are now dozens of Institutes and more than<\/span> 250 graduate programs<\/span><\/a> in the U.S. alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Data-Driven Science cluster \u2014 part of the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Excellence Program \u2014 supports the university\u2019s national leadership in data science, in part through supporting the Data Science Initiative. This initiative improves NC State\u2019s internal activities related to big data and data science, and supports the university as a hub of data science and analytics expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, university faculty and researchers with the National Security Agency support for the Department of Defense through data research addressing short- and long-term security issues. This includes research that seeks to understand the empirical basis of factors leading to radicalization, and whether someone who has been radicalized may commit a terrorist act.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany of today\u2019s most innovative solutions to national security issues are coming out of partnerships with academia and industry,\u201d said Alyson Wilson, principal investigator for the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences and a professor in the Department of Statistics. \u201cThe Research Triangle region, and NC State, are hubs for data science research. At LAS, we\u2019re visualizing big data sets and finding the most relevant pieces of information to address problems of national security interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How Else Do We Use Data?<\/h3>\n

Of course, data \u2014 regardless of if it is classified as \u201cbig\u201d data \u2014 influences teaching, research, learning and service across campus. NC State\u2019s <\/span>Office of Institutional Research and Planning<\/span><\/a> uses data analysis to inform high-level strategic planning, while also making data relevant and accessible to the entire campus community.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cofficial source for the university\u2019s institutional data for federal, state and other external inquiries,\u201d OIRP administers a variety of university-wide surveys to NC State students, alumni, faculty, and staff, including UNC system-required instruments like the Employee Engagement Survey. The office also manages ClassEval and collects, summarizes and analyzes information about NC State and its operations for everyone from university and college administrators to campus units like University Wellness and Recreation, Enrollment Management and Services and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe very deliberately align our services and initiatives with NC State\u2019s strategic plan,\u201d said Mary Lelik, senior vice provost for OIRP. \u201cThe ways in which we gather and use data help us to support student success, faculty research, infrastructure improvements and overall organizational excellence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at the ways in which prospective students interact with the admissions website can help determine the likelihood of eventual enrollment. Course data is used to help predict progress toward degree completion, and can help faculty and staff engage in academic intervention to ensure a student remains on track. Card swipes to the Aquatic Center help staff determine how many lanes to open in the pool at certain times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data plays a large role in classes as well. For example, students in Helen Armstrong\u2019s master\u2019s of graphic design spring studio <\/span>collaborated with the IBM Watson Health team to investigate how an intelligent interface might utilize machine learning to lower barriers to accessibility for blind, visually impaired and deaf, hard-of-hearing users. Students designed the resulting interfaces to actively learn from and adapt to user data. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMachine Learning requires huge data sets, i.e. big data, to reliably predict outcomes and facilitate decisions,\u201d said Armstrong, associate professor in the College of Design. \u201cWithout big data, such smart interfaces could not successfully function, and the students did a great job putting data to use.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn More About Big Data<\/h3>\n

Anyone at NC State can learn more about big data, data in general and how it impacts campus. A wealth of data an institutional information is available through the OIRP website, and the NC State University Libraries provides seminars and workshops on data-related matters. Additionally, the Office of Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the Data Science Initiative, helps run Data Matters, a series of data science short courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, these are only examples of the many ways students, faculty and staff are involved in big data and data analysis at NC State.<\/span>\u201cData really transforms what we do here on campus and in the community,\u201d said Lelik. \u201cWe\u2019re making great strides in our <\/span>collective <\/span>leadership in this area, and it is shaping how we make decisions and see the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Provost's Office News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"What informs the decisions that impact 45,000 NC State students, faculty and staff? How do we figure out the best ways to address society\u2019s grand challenges on a local and global scale?<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe tackle these complex questions every day at NC State through our teaching, research and service. Our solutions, while multi-faceted, are often informed by \u201cbig data.\u201d Upon first hearing the term, however, many people are left with a question.<\/span>\r\n

What is Big Data?<\/h3>\r\n\u201c\u2018Big data\u2019 describes the modern everyday reality in which an abundance of rapidly accumulating data is a common characteristic of organizations and professional occupations,\u201d said Michael Rappa, founding director of NC State\u2019s Institute for Advanced Analytics. \u201cThe data are, of course, digitized, and can be in various forms, such as numerical, text, sound, and images. A defining feature of big data is how it pushes the boundaries of computational and analytical methods given its volume, velocity, and variety \u2014 the amount of data in a set, the rate at which data is received, and the types of data available.\u201d<\/span>\r\n

Big Data at NC State<\/h3>\r\nThe <\/span>first North American university to establish an IBM Q Hub<\/span><\/a>, NC State will boost its big data expertise through use of <\/span>IBM\u2019s quantum computing systems. Quantum computers on campus will give researchers the ability to analyze big data too large and complex for traditional computers.<\/span>\r\n\r\nQuantum computing holds the potential for NC State to use data analysis to drive solutions to global health, supply chain management, economic and technological issues and many more challenges. Of course, the university already maintains a strong presence in the big data field, evidenced in the work of units like the <\/span>Institute for Advanced Analytics<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Data-Driven Science faculty cluster<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Data Science Initiative<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Laboratory for Analytic Sciences<\/span><\/a>, among others.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Institute for Advanced Analytics debuted the nation's first full-fledged masters program focused on big data in 2007, with the generous support of Jim Goodnight, co-founder of SAS. The Institute has done much to define the field of analytics and data science \u2014 essentially creating a template for graduate education around the world. There are now dozens of Institutes and more than<\/span> 250 graduate programs<\/span><\/a> in the U.S. alone.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Data-Driven Science cluster \u2014 part of the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Excellence Program \u2014 supports the university\u2019s national leadership in data science, in part through supporting the Data Science Initiative. This initiative improves NC State\u2019s internal activities related to big data and data science, and supports the university as a hub of data science and analytics expertise.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, university faculty and researchers with the National Security Agency support for the Department of Defense through data research addressing short- and long-term security issues. This includes research that seeks to understand the empirical basis of factors leading to radicalization, and whether someone who has been radicalized may commit a terrorist act.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMany of today\u2019s most innovative solutions to national security issues are coming out of partnerships with academia and industry,\u201d said Alyson Wilson, principal investigator for the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences and a professor in the Department of Statistics. \u201cThe Research Triangle region, and NC State, are hubs for data science research. At LAS, we\u2019re visualizing big data sets and finding the most relevant pieces of information to address problems of national security interest.\u201d<\/span>\r\n

How Else Do We Use Data?<\/h3>\r\nOf course, data \u2014 regardless of if it is classified as \u201cbig\u201d data \u2014 influences teaching, research, learning and service across campus. NC State\u2019s <\/span>Office of Institutional Research and Planning<\/span><\/a> uses data analysis to inform high-level strategic planning, while also making data relevant and accessible to the entire campus community.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe \u201cofficial source for the university\u2019s institutional data for federal, state and other external inquiries,\u201d OIRP administers a variety of university-wide surveys to NC State students, alumni, faculty, and staff, including UNC system-required instruments like the Employee Engagement Survey. The office also manages ClassEval and collects, summarizes and analyzes information about NC State and its operations for everyone from university and college administrators to campus units like University Wellness and Recreation, Enrollment Management and Services and more.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cWe very deliberately align our services and initiatives with NC State\u2019s strategic plan,\u201d said Mary Lelik, senior vice provost for OIRP. \u201cThe ways in which we gather and use data help us to support student success, faculty research, infrastructure improvements and overall organizational excellence.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nLooking at the ways in which prospective students interact with the admissions website can help determine the likelihood of eventual enrollment. Course data is used to help predict progress toward degree completion, and can help faculty and staff engage in academic intervention to ensure a student remains on track. Card swipes to the Aquatic Center help staff determine how many lanes to open in the pool at certain times.<\/span>\r\n\r\nData plays a large role in classes as well. For example, students in Helen Armstrong\u2019s master\u2019s of graphic design spring studio <\/span>collaborated with the IBM Watson Health team to investigate how an intelligent interface might utilize machine learning to lower barriers to accessibility for blind, visually impaired and deaf, hard-of-hearing users. Students designed the resulting interfaces to actively learn from and adapt to user data. <\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMachine Learning requires huge data sets, i.e. big data, to reliably predict outcomes and facilitate decisions,\u201d said Armstrong, associate professor in the College of Design. \u201cWithout big data, such smart interfaces could not successfully function, and the students did a great job putting data to use.\u201d<\/span>\r\n

Learn More About Big Data<\/h3>\r\nAnyone at NC State can learn more about big data, data in general and how it impacts campus. A wealth of data an institutional information is available through the OIRP website, and the NC State University Libraries provides seminars and workshops on data-related matters. Additionally, the Office of Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the Data Science Initiative, helps run Data Matters, a series of data science short courses.<\/span>\r\n\r\nOf course, these are only examples of the many ways students, faculty and staff are involved in big data and data analysis at NC State.<\/span>\u201cData really transforms what we do here on campus and in the community,\u201d said Lelik. \u201cWe\u2019re making great strides in our <\/span>collective <\/span>leadership in this area, and it is shaping how we make decisions and see the world.\u201d<\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What informs the decisions that impact 45,000 NC State students, faculty and staff? How does the university figure out how to address society\u2019s grand challenges? Solutions to these questions are often informed by \u201cbig data.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-_from-newswire-collection-6"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}