The provost’s Ad Hoc Committee on Data Science has issued its report on how to advance data science at Pitt and is seeking feedback from the University community.

People can give feedback regarding the recommendations through a Qualtrics survey. The deadline to respond is Dec. 11.

The report, which can be found here, identifies several areas in which “Pitt has the opportunity to step out of the pack and take a national leadership position”:

1. Equal and integrated emphasis of both data science methods development (statistics, information science, etc.) and innovative discipline-focused uses of data.

2. Emphasis on ethics, social responsibility, and social impact of data use.

3. Methods and use of non-sampled or non-scientific data, e.g., full capture of consumer data such as social media data, consumer purchasing data, and geo-tracking data.

4. Capitalize on Pitt’s Health Sciences strength in building a brand in data science.

The report also outlines four overarching goals to “work toward a leadership position at the confluence of these areas of responsible data science.”:

• Increase the reputation, visibility, and awareness of responsible data science within and outside the Pitt community. Create a shared and unified understanding of data science and of its importance across disciplines.

• Require every undergraduate student to acquire a basic understanding of data and data methods, including considerations of responsibility, as part of their learning at Pitt.

• Create, support, and incentivize inclusive, flexible undergraduate and graduate educational programs and shared educational resources to offer training in data science – in context of a broad variety of domains – to students, postdocs, staff, and faculty

• Implement a structure that knits together, in a visible, accessible, and central place, people and practices in data science; serves as an evolving source of knowledge in developing and applying responsible data science to overcome diverse, challenging problems, including ethics, policy, and legal aspects; and animates extraordinary ambitions and success in collaborations transcending disciplinary and community limitations.