Overview[]
On March 29, 2012, the White House announced the Big Data Research and Development Initiative (full-text). The goal of the Initiative is to improve the U.S. government's ability to extract knowledge and insights from large and complex collections of digital data.
To launch the initiative, six Federal departments and agencies announced more than $200 million in new commitments that, together, promise to greatly improve the tools and techniques needed to access, organize, and glean discoveries from huge volumes of digital data.
To make the most of this opportunity, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) — in concert with several Federal departments and agencies — created the Initiative to:
- Advance state-of-the-art core technologies needed to collect, store, preserve, manage, analyze, and share huge quantities of data.
- Harness these technologies to accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering, strengthen our national security, and transform teaching and learning; and
- Expand the workforce needed to develop and use Big Data technologies.
The Initiative responds to recommendations by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which in 2011 concluded that the Federal Government is under-investing in technologies related to Big Data. In response, OSTP launched a Big Data Senior Steering Group (BD SSG) to coordinate and expand the Government's investments in this critical area.