Data science is an emerging discipline that draws upon knowledge in a multitude of domains to derive insight from data of increasing complexity and volume. Responsibly and creatively deployed data science products are creating unprecedented opportunities to derive economic value, improve quality of life, and provide new knowledge important to Hawaii and global communities. The biggest impediment to leveraging data to create efficiencies in academia and industry is the severe shortage of individuals with expertise in data and computational science. To tackle this challenge, the Hawaii Data Science Institute was established by University of Hawaii President David Lasner, with the support of a large contingent of faculty and staff, as a system-wide initiative for catalyzing research and training capacity in data science, computation, and visualization.

The mission of HI-DSI is threefold:

1. Catalyze academic research collaborations between expert data and computational scientists and domain scientists on challenging, real-world problems.
2. Upskill Hawaii-based and national workforce in increasingly ubiquitous data- and computation-intensive business practices.
3. Establish a statewide nexus of expertise in data and computational sciences within a strategic framework with industry and government partners.

To achieve its aims, HI-DSI will foster strategic partnerships with the local industries and government agencies to facilitate the training of a critically-needed workforce, based on existing and predicted needs, particularly in fields of importance to Hawaii, such as cybersecurity, traffic management, smart grid, and healthcare. All the while, the Hawaii Data Science Institute will capitalize on the University of Hawaii’s unique position and international excellence in various research domains to pursue high-impact collaborative projects. These projects will span beyond academia, with the principal objective of developing real-world applications that benefit Hawaii’s economy and its citizens.

The HI-DSI is funded by the Office of the President of the University of Hawaii and the and the UH Manoa Vice Chancellor for Research. The University of Hawaii Information Technology Services (ITS) is providing a newly renovated, modern and vibrant home for our Institute which will serve as data science hub that invites and fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations.