Obama Administration Places $200 Million Bet On Big Data

wiredmikey writes "As the Federal Government aims to make use of the massive volume of digital data being generated on a daily basis, the Obama Administration today announced a 'Big Data Research and Development Initiative' backed by more than $200 million in commitments to start. Through the new Big Data initiative and associated monetary investments, the Obama Administration promises to greatly improve the tools and techniques needed to access, organize, and glean discoveries from huge volumes of digital data. Interestingly, as part of a number of government announcements on big data today, The National Institutes of Health announced that the world's largest set of data on human genetic variation – produced by the international 1000 Genomes Project (At 200 terabytes so far) is now freely available on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DoD) said it would invest approximately $250 million annually across the Military Departments in a series of programs. 'We also want to challenge industry, research universities, and non-profits to join with the Administration to make the most of the opportunities created by Big Data,' Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Policy at OSTP noted in a blog post. 'Clearly, the government can't do this on its own. We need what the President calls an 'all hands on deck' effort.'"

Great QOTD

[smwny]

The QOTD at the bottom of the page so perfectly matched this story.

All the taxes paid over a lifetime by the average American are spent by the government in less than a second. -- Jim Fiebig

Privacy?

[GeneralTurgidson]

When it comes to big data, there's going to be little privacy.

Doesn't this bother anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly, the government can't do this on its own. We need what the President calls an 'all hands on deck' effort

So the Obama wants to pick and choose how this will be handled but he wants everyone else to do it? Whatever happened to representation?

Re:Doesn't this bother anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why does every criticism of Obama lead to howls of racism? You spent 70% of a post shouting about racism when not a racist word was said. And yes, some of us were against Bush just as much as Obama. We don't all fit into tiny little slots, some of us don't wear partisan labels. How about you?

Re:Great QOTD

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand your joke but in reality there are about 40-50% that pay no federal income tax at all and a decent percentage of that group get back more than they paid during the year (they MAKE money when they file).

On a side note.. I really don't think most people understand the tax refund concept and tax withholdings from your paycheck. They don't realize that they are getting money back that they gave to the government already with the exception of those I mentioned above that get even more back then they paid in.

Re:Doesn't this bother anyone?

[LandoCalrizzian]

I'm black, and I think that even if Obama is "my nigga", he cannot be trusted, and he betrayed most of those who voted for him with all his false promises.

I intend to vote against "my nigga" next time.

I guess you can call me an Uncle Tom, but I'd rather be called that than be called a sucker or an idiot.

Posting as AC and talking about trust is an irony in itself. Anyone naive enough to think that the President can drastically change the way a nation works in 4 years is a sucker and an idiot. Government is slow to work and slow to react because it is run by a committee of people who have their own agenda that doesn't always align with the President's agenda. It doesn't matter who is in office, if the kids can't play nice then nothing gets done. Let's set the record straight, a President has the least control on how a nation is run, the body of Congress has most of the power. If you want one man to run the country move to Syria. If you want change, you should be more selective of your Congressional representatives instead of only paying attention to 2 people for ~6 months every 4 years.