Notices Of The AMS - August 2012
QuoteIntroduction
In 2010, Sastry Pantula, director of the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) at the National Science Foundation, proposed changing the DMS name to the Division of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (DMSS). In response to this proposal, Eric Friedlander, president of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), sent an email message to each AMS member requesting feedback on this proposal. Attached to his message was a letter from Director Pantula giving his justification for the change. I use this incident to begin to explain the object of this article, namely, the long-term consequences of the Data Deluge. Pantula's letter provides a nice starting point. Here is the relevant paragraph from his letter:
Big data provide big opportunities for mathematical and statistical sciences. It is an exciting time for our Division. In his FY12 budget roll-out speech NSF Director Dr. Subra Suresh referred to the "era of data and observation". The NSF 2011–2016 Strategic Plan notes that "The revolution in information and communication technologies is another major factor influencing the conduct of 21st century research. New cyber tools for collecting, analyzing, communicating, and storing information are transforming the conduct of research and learning. One aspect of the information technology revolution is the 'DATA DELUGE', shorthand for the emergence of massive amounts of data and the changing capacity of scientists and engineers to maintain and analyze it." Extracting useful knowledge from the deluge of data is critical to the scientific successes of the future. Data-intensive research will drive many of the major scientific breakthroughs in the coming decades. There is a long-term need for research and workforce development in computational and data-enabled sciences. Statistics is broadly recognized as a data-centric discipline, thus having it in the Division's name as proposed would be advantageous whenever "Big Data" and data-sciences investments are discussed internally and externally.
After examining the current Data Deluge enthusiasm in more detail, I will focus on Metrics, a logical outgrowth of the new heightened preoccupation with Data. This in turn leads to Marshall McLuhan and his insightful "The Medium is the Message". I next express my concerns about the negative effect of the Data Deluge on mathematics education. How is the Data Deluge reflected in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics? Finally, I will conclude with some remarks about grassroots professional development projects, which could become a counterweight to overblown enthusiasm for data analysis.