The MBDH has several ongoing needs assessment activities during 2022–2024 that are helping the Hub leadership better understand the data-related needs of the community segments and disciplinary audiences that make up the larger MBDH community. This input is being shared out to the Hub community via reports, webinars, and other materials.

We encourage participation by individuals from across sectors and institution types, including predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), early-career faculty, and perspectives from government and industry. Participation in some of these projects may be eligible for partnership with the Hub under new proposals to our Community Development and Engagement (CDE) Program.

Current and planned Community DNA activities

Aquatic Invasive Species data

  • • Funded by NSF and led by the MBDH Water Quality team with cross-sector partners
  • • Workshop planned for 2024
  • • Pre-event activities focused on research data management (RDM) needs began in March 2022
  • • Outputs: workshop videos and report; survey data summary report; position paper

Smart & Resilient Communities/Data Science for Social Good

  • • Led by the MBDH S&RC team with regional partners
  • • Workshops, survey, and focus groups during 2022
  • • Midwest researcher disciplinary census
  • • Data resource inventory for cross-disciplinary MBDH S&RC team research
  • • Collaboration Cafe webinar on “Building Smart and Resilient Communities” in April 2022
  • • Panel discussion and Q&A at Oct. 2021 Regional Community Meeting (RCM)
  • • Outputs: Collaboration Cafe video; RCM panel video; Website with resources for researchers; survey and focus group data summary report

Ag production/food chain data standards needs assessment

  • • Partnership with the IEEE Standards Association and MBDH Digital Ag community; in alignment with the National Agricultural Producers Data Cooperative (NAPDC)
  • • Focused on understanding needs of researchers, industry, and small producers for data standards for remote sensors, autonomous vehicles, supply chain/provenance IoT devices
  • • Includes research/practice spectrum and cybersecurity
  • • Began in January 2022
  • • Outputs: survey data summary report; position paper; contribution to NAPDC outputs

Materials & Manufacturing research data and workforce development

  • • Community survey on data needs and uses in materials research and advanced manufacturing, with data science education and workforce development aspects, building on work by the South Big Data Innovation Hub team
  • • Outputs: survey data summary report

Government data-related decision-making and AI

  • • Structured interviews with government agency staff on AI readiness for data-related guidelines began in January 2022
  • • Outputs: peer-reviewed journal articles/conference papers; blog posts

Trustworthy Data Working Group

To be notified when participation opens for the Community DNA activities, please add your contact information and select which area(s) are of interest to you:

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