The Computing Research Association (CRA) is a leading organization for promoting research into Computer Science and related Computing disciplines.   CRA’s membership includes leading Computer Science departments, Information Schools, and information technology companies.  The CRA periodically releases statements regarding the future of the field and outlining areas of interest and opportunity for the community.   Given all of the excitement and activity around Data Science, the CRA has decided to release a statement on “Computing Research and the Emerging Field of Data Science“.   AMPLab was well-represented on the committee that drafted the statement, with both David Culler and Michael Franklin serving as committee members.

The document is brief.  It outlines opportunities for computing researchers to contribute to this emerging field and encourages those researchers and their organizations to do so. The statement concludes as follows:

In summary, the computing research community has a unique opportunity to help define and shape the emerging field of data science.   Together with statisticians, mathematicians, social scientists, data analysts, domain scientists and subject matter experts, computer scientists can develop the new theoretical foundations, algorithmic principles and systems upon which the foundations of data science will be built.