Developing a Model for Socio-technical Data Analytics (SODA) Education

This project will create both a master’s and doctoral-level specialization in Socio-technical Data Analytics (SODA). Partnerships with local researchers and businesses who already work with large data-sets will enable master's graduates to receive first-hand experience with both the social and technical implications of large digital data collections, and thus be well-prepared for leadership roles in academic and corporate environments. Similarly, doctoral students will consider multiple stages of the information lifecycle, which will help to ensure that their research findings will generalize to a range of scholarly and business practices. Case studies from these partners will be incorporated into new courses that will initially be held on campus and will later be evolved to the School’s long-running online education program, and deposited into the Illinois IDEALS repository where possible, thus creating a model of graduate training that will develop expertise and produce research results that will benefit both the profession and the discipline.