Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (BD Spokes)

NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) initiated the National Network of Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs) program in FY 2015.  Four BD Hubs – Midwest, Northeast, South, and West – were established to foster multi-sector collaborations among academia, industry, and government, both nationally and internationally.  These BD Hubs are serving a convening and coordinating role by bringing together a wide range of Big Data stakeholders in order to connect solution seekers with solution providers.

In FY 2016, the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (BD Spokes) solicitation began extending the BD Hubs network by establishing multi-institutional and multi-sector collaborations to focus on topics of specific interest to a given region.  The first set of BD Spokes was funded in FY 2016. This solicitation calls for new BD Spoke proposals to be awarded in FY 2018.  Collaborating with BD Hubs, each BD Spoke will focus on a particular topic that requires Big Data approaches and solutions.  The set of activities managed by a BD Spoke will promote progress towards solutions in the chosen topic area.  The regional BD Hub Steering Committee will provide general guidance to each BD Spoke and will assist the BD Spoke in coordinating with the national BD Hub network, with other BD Spokes, and with the broader innovation ecosystem.

The Big Data activities of a BD Spoke will be guided by the following broad themes:

• Accelerating progress towards addressing societal grand challenges relevant to the regional and national priority areas defined by the BD Hubs (information on priority areas can be found on each Hub’s website listed in the Introduction section below);
• Helping automate the Big Data lifecycle; and
• Enabling access to and spurring the use of important and valuable available data assets, including international data sets where relevant.

NSF's overall Big Data research and development (R&D) portfolio includes fundamental research, infrastructure development and provisioning, education and workforce development, and community engagement.  Not all of these aspects of the overall portfolio are covered by this solicitation. In particular, this solicitation is not meant to fund proposals in which fundamental research is the primary activity.  If research is a substantial portion of the proposed activities, please consult with a cognizant NSF program officer of this solicitation to help find a more appropriate solicitation. For example, projects focused on foundations and innovative applications related to Big Data may be better suited for submission to the Critical Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Foundations and Applications of Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA) program. Similarly, projects focused primarily on privacy research may be more suited to NSF’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program.

There are two proposal categories covered by this solicitation: SMALL and MEDIUM BD Spokes.

All (SMALL or MEDIUM) BD Spoke proposals submitted in response to this solicitation must include a Letter of Collaboration from a regional BD Hub. Proposals not including a Letter of Collaboration from a BD Hub will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.