Our “Smart & Resilient Communities” efforts aim to facilitate increased connections among academic researchers, government, community members, and other stakeholders to address shared interest in the use of data for our communities. With a particular focus on rural areas, we encourage interdisciplinary, cross-sector approaches to investigate how data can help address complex community problems, spanning across domains such as public health, transportation, energy, community planning, climate resilience, management of unplanned events, and more.
More information on MBDH activities around the Hub’s Smart & Resilient Communities initiatives:
Governing Smart Cities and the Ethical Considerations of Big Data
By Ken Ogata From smartphones to surveillance cameras, to automatic doors and artificial intelligence, the cities we live in have become “smarter,” carrying the promise of productivity and modernization. While “smart” technology seemingly makes our lives easier, are we giving up the benefits of privacy and individualism? In a new book, Governing Smart Cities as […]
Reshaping Agriculture in a Changing Climate with Insights from Predictive Analytics
By Shruti Gosain We’re in a time where technology is moving faster than ever. In an age of rapidly advancing technology, the intersection of data science, climate science, and agriculture is producing game-changing results. Predictive analytics, a cutting-edge approach to data-driven forecasting, is revolutionizing our ability to foresee and respond to the challenges posed by […]
Cultivating Change: Finding Answers with Sustainable Urban Farming
By Sasha Zvenigorodsky Most individuals native to Illinois would be shocked to hear that thousands of its residents reside in areas that are considered to be deserts. Not literal deserts, but rather food deserts, urban areas in which it is difficult to buy good-quality or affordable food. Although food deserts aren’t covered by dry sand […]
New NSF Convergence Accelerator Midwest disability-related awards
By Aisha Tepede The National Science Foundation (NSF) has taken a new approach to build upon basic research and discovery to accelerate solutions toward societal impact by providing award funds to academic institutions across the USA with the opportunity to develop research projects. Individuals who have disabilities deal with hindrances restricting them from achieving better […]
Building a Climate Asset Map with the Midwest Climate Collaborative
By Sasha Zvenigorodsky This story is part of a series on partnerships developed by the Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub with institutions across the Midwest through the Community Development and Engagement (CDE) Program. Climate change—two words that have become increasingly popular throughout the scientific community as the world begins to see its destructive impacts across […]
MBDH Partners on New Data Science Workshop for Underrepresented High School Students
By Aisha Tepede This story is part of a series on partnerships developed by the Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub with institutions across the Midwest through the Community Development and Engagement (CDE) Program. Deciding what to do after high school can be overwhelming. There are various academic and career options that are provided but many […]
Data Science for the Public Good Young Scholars Program
By Isabel Alviar Data is the new science; it has the potential to answer the world’s problems if the right questions are asked. And some data science education programs are now focusing on working with local communities to help with real-world problems. The Data Science for the Public Good (DSPG) Young Scholars Program is an […]
Physics-Based Machine Learning for Sub-Seasonal Climate Forecasting
By Raleigh Butler We’ve all heard the old adage that if you don’t like the weather in the Midwest, wait a minute and it will change. So how can we possibly forecast conditions weeks in advance? In 2019, an NSF collaborative grant was awarded to six institutions to sponsor the study of sub-seasonal climate forecasting […]
University of Nebraska researchers extend smart rural bridge health initiatives
By Raleigh Butler Did you know that, despite increases in technology, bridge health across the United States is decreasing? Bridges currently score a C on the country’s infrastructure report card, which is a fall from last year’s grade. Within the Midwest, the percentage of structurally deficient bridges per state include the following: The Midwest Big […]
Professor Kimberly Zarecor on Community-Based Research and Building Interdisciplinary Research Teams
By Qining Wang An expert in Eastern European Architecture, Professor Kimberly Zarecor tells us about her journey of building a highly interdisciplinary research team that takes data science into research on rural communities in Iowa. To some, architectural history and data science research may sound like oil and water—two fields that are almost impossible to […]
How Do Scientists Help AI Cope with a Messy Physical World?
By Qining Wang When we see a stop sign at an intersection, we won’t mistake it for a yield sign. Our eyes recognize the white “STOP” letters printed on the red hexagon. It doesn’t matter if the sign is under sunlight or streetlight. It doesn’t matter if a tree branch gets in the way or […]
Guest post – Diverse programs from ISU address sustainable cities challenges
By Iowa State University’s Sustainable Cities team Researchers with the Sustainable Cities team at Iowa State University recognize the difficulty that public officials face in transforming vast amounts of climate and energy research into contextualized public policy. In attempting to address this critical issue, the team’s mission goes beyond the creation of new climate analysis […]
MBDH attends the Smart Cities Connect conference
Part of the Hub’s engagement on connected communities Melissa Cragin, Executive Director of the Midwest Big Data Hub, and Alice Delage, Program Manager and Community Liaison, were invited by Hub partner US Ignite to attend the Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo and co-located US Ignite Application Summit in Kansas City on March 26-29.
MBDH partners on US Ignite Reverse Pitch challenge
part of Hub’s focus on Smart, Connected, and Resilient Communities UIUC collaborators and mentors meet with HackIllinois teams on US Ignite Challenge The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) was awarded a $20,000 grant from US Ignite to host a Smart Gigabit Communities Reverse Pitch Challenge. The MBDH, along with other local partners (see below), […]
MBDH meeting on Smart & Resilient Communities
Co-located with the annual Midwest Big Data Hub All-Hands meeting in Omaha in 2017, 15 experts from several disciplines gathered on October 3rd to discuss community-oriented research topics, data and methods, and community engagement. They shared ideas and suggestions to launch a program focused on Smart & Resilient Communities.
Transportation Data Challenge Hackathon
by Keith Hollenkamp On Sunday, October 1st, just before the MBDH All-Hands Meeting, the MBDH and the Bridging Big Data Project team hosted the Transportation Data Challenge Hackathon. Photo credit: Chungwook Sim