The Obama Administration has announced a “Big Data Research and Development Initiative.” By improving the ability to extract knowledge and insights from large and complex collections of digital data, the initiative promises to help solve some the nation’s most pressing challenges. To launch the initiative, six Federal departments and agencies have announced more than $200 million in new commitments.

“In the same way that past Federal investments in information-technology R&D led to dramatic advances in supercomputing and the creation of the Internet, the initiative we are launching today promises to transform our ability to use Big Data for scientific discovery, environmental and biomedical research, education, and national security,” said Dr. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The initiative responds to recommendations by the President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which last year concluded that the Federal Government is under-investing in technologies related to Big Data.

Upload: 04-09-12