New York, NY – October 6, 2021
The Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub announces a new rebranding initiative for the National Student Data Corps (NSDC). Formerly known as the ‘Northeast Student Data Corps’, the NSDC is a community-developed project that teaches data science fundamentals to students across the United States and around the world, with a special focus on underserved students and institutions. The NSDC provides free online data science education, mentoring, career and networking tools, including live virtual events and YouTube videos for students around the world to engage.
The NSDC began in 2020 with a call for a Founding Committee (NSDC FC) which attracted 24 individuals from 19 organizations across the Northeast region of the United States. Working together in three teams responsible for Content and Pedagogy, Peer Instruction and Mentoring, and Outreach, the NSDC was launched at the Inaugural NDSC Data Science Career Panel on February 19, 2021. The panel included students, professors, researchers, and a data science professional with leadership experience in industry, nonprofit, and government organizations, inspiring learners of all ages to pursue or consider data science careers.
As of August 2021, the NSDC community is made up of 1,699 individuals from 278 institutions representing the U.S. and 7 other countries – Australia, Germany, India, Lebanon, Netherlands, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates. Broad participation in the NSDC, and interest in the NSDC Chapter System, prompted the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub to elevate the project to a national level. The NSDC has received expressions of interest in beginning local chapters from 23 students and professors at colleges and universities spanning 15 states in the U.S. The NSDC will continue to accept additional chapter applications from university and high school students, encouraging chapter proposals from around the U.S. and the world. Furthermore, the international scope of the NSDC’s virtual programming audience suggests that the NSDC is providing a much needed service to students of all ages from middle school to high school, college, and adult learners, from around the world, preparing them to be successful data science enthusiasts, students, professionals, and community members from all educational levels and career backgrounds.
In Fall 2021, the NSDC plans to launch additional programming and chapter development initiatives to further support the data science community. The NSDC is currently soliciting feedback on the type of events and resources that we may create and make available to the data science community.
The Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub
The mission of the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub is to build and strengthen partnerships across industry, academia, nonprofits, and government to address societal and scientific challenges, spur economic development, and accelerate innovation in the national big data ecosystem.
The Northeast Hub is a community convener, collaboration hub, and catalyst for data science innovation in the Northeast Region. The Hub amplifies successes of the community and shares credit across the community to encourage collaboration and mutual success in data science endeavors.
The goals of the Northeast Hub are to: build collaborations to address real-world challenges through translational data science approaches; foster innovation and scale endeavors that reflect regional interests and align with national priorities related to data science; support and promote representative community engagement/impact across all Hub activities; and increase data science capacity and talent, emphasizing underserved communities.
The National Student Data Corps
The National Student Data Corps (NSDC) is a community-developed initiative led by the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub, which is funded by the National Science Foundation by NSF grants #1916585 and #1550284. The NSDC teaches data science fundamentals to students across the United States, with a special focus on underserved institutions and students. The Founding Committee of the National Student Data Corps consists of 24 members from different sectors, industries, and professions who have come together to cultivate a community of diverse insights and perspectives. The NSDC Founding Committee is responsible for planning, designing, and launching National Student Data Corps activities in partnership with the leadership of the Northeast Big Data Hub, contributing to the creation of a groundbreaking and inclusive new program in data science.
Upcoming NSDC Events
The National Student Data Corps’ next Data Science Career Panel Series event will be held on Friday, October 29th, 2021 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Free registration for this event is now open and additional information is available through the NSDC page of the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub’s website.
Media Contacts
Florence Hudson
Executive Director, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub
Email: fh2417@columbia.edu
Lauren Close
Operations & Communications Manager, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub
Email: lc3460@columbia.edu
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