We’re assessing our progress – help us by filling a survey!

 in Hub Announcements

In just three years, the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub has gone from an idea about igniting new big data partnerships to a rapidly growing network that has collaborated with 250+ academic, industry, government and non-profit organizations on data-driven initiatives. This would not be possible without our thriving community – everyone who has supported a Big Data Hub project, participated in one of our events, or otherwise added your voice to the conversation.

As we look ahead to our next phase, we seek to learn from these relationships:

  • What does the big data innovation ecosystem look like now?
  • What are our strengths and where can we continue to grow?
  • How might better understanding this network inform our evolution from here?

To improve this understanding, the Hub has partnered with a team of researchers at New York Hall of Science and University of California at San Diego to conduct a social network analysis of our community. The researchers include:

Dr. Alan Daly
Professor,
UC San Diego
Dr. Yi-Hwa Liou
Post-Doctoral Researcher,
UC San Diego
Dr. Stephen Uzzo
Chief Scientist,
New York Hall of Science
Laycca Umer
Research Assistant,
New York Hall of Science
Catherine Cramer
Manager of Industry Engagement, Data Science Institute at Columbia University

I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with this team over the past several months, and will soon administer a survey to our community that they have designed to help us to understand  the nature and evolution of ties among Hub affiliates.

The results should also help reveal the relationships among our Big Data Spokes, and patterns of ties with other Hubs and with institutions outside the Hub. NYSCI and UCSD will report their findings back to the Hub community. No personally identifiable data will be shared with us at the Hub; we believe this level of security will allow everyone to answer in a respectful and open manner while providing genuine, authentic and confidential feedback.

“This investigation will contribute to understanding how strength of relationships affects the Hub’s strategies, techniques and organizational innovations,” said Dr. Uzzo. “Our goals are to understand and explicate the evolution of the structure of the Northeast Big Data Hub, and the impact of collaborations within the Hub network and the intellectual growth that results from them, through revealing key characteristics of sustainable partnerships and determining the relative resiliency of these relationships.”

“We’re looking forward to learning from the work of our colleagues at NYSCI and UCSD,” added René Bastón, the Hub’s executive director. “Their insights into our network will help us serve our stakeholders more effectively and continue to improve the long-term outcomes of our programs and resources.”

We’ve reached out to Hub community members to share the survey link, and will be following up over the next three weeks. (Didn’t hear from us? Email me at ken2115@columbia.edu.)

Thank you for your valuable time and input. We couldn’t do what we do without you!