The organization of RDS@Pitt is informed by the work of the Data Science Task Force, chaired by now Dean Bruce Childers and Vice Provost Steve Wisniewski. The Final Report of the Data Science Task Force called for a “control tower” that could coordinate the energy in data science throughout the campus without duplicating the resources and services of the existing schools and programs across Pitt.
As such, RDS@Pitt is operated out of the Office of the Provost in tight coordination with Pitt Research (see Executive Committee) to ensure a whole-of-University view is maintained.
Impact of Year of Data and Society
The Year of Data and Society (YoDaS), successfully led by Nora Mattern during the 2021-2022 academic year, illustrated two added features that have been incorporated into RDS@Pitt.
First, the YoDaS surfaced many exciting groups working across campus (the airlines in the control tower metaphor) many of whom were unaware of groups across campus working on similar if distinct problems.
Second, through the investment of efficient resources to connect across these gaps, we saw that coordinating these networks into a coherent, polycentric organization led to exciting interdisciplinary synergies.
Communities of Practice
As such, one of the central features of RDS@Pitt is our unique Communities of Practice. These are either thematic or infrastructure-based groups that formalize and grow existing interdisciplinary partnerships. RDS@Pitt supplies these groups with administrative support, resources, and visibility to growing their impact and networks.
The leaders of these Communities of Practice also make up the important Steering Committee that advises the Associate Vice Provost of Data Science. Pitt is now home to diverse teams solving societal challenges from increasing access to technology across society, dealing with addiction at both molecular and institutional scales, as well as using data to prepare for a sustainable future.
Working Groups
In addition, we also support Working Groups, which seed potential future Communities of Practice and also provide a less formal means for faculty, staff, students, and professionals to begin collaborating in responsible data science. These groups can further the impact of data science at Pitt by, for example, increasing our understanding of digital disinformation and modern information ecosystems, meeting the challenges of automation for workers, and diversifying curriculum to teach data science.
Executive Committee and Advisory Board
Two other components of RDS@Pitt are also essential for aligning our efforts and innovations both internally and externally.
First, we have an Executive Committee composed of the leadership in the Office of the Provost as well as Pitt Research. This assures that we are both in sync with University-level priorities as well as advocating for responsible data science in meaningful policy discussions at the highest levels.
Second, since RDS@Pitt is focused on use-based, responsibly applied data science, partners across impactful industry in Southwestern PA are essential to our mission. Therefore, we have organized an Advisory Board comprised of leaders from industry, government, and the nonprofit sector.