Big Data: The Role of Education and Training

Julia Lane
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 35 (May 2016), pp. 722-724.

The Jarmin and O'Hara piece describes a turning point in statistical data collection and dissemination. The federal agencies can no longer bear the full burden of producing and disseminating data for public policy research. Public policy researchers and schools should seize the new opportunity to complement the Census Bureau initiative—which also represents a turning point for both public policy education and research. We should adapt our educational programs so that we can produce the workforce capable of working with new data. We should adapt our research programs to move from largely artisanal individual efforts to large-scale “big science”; I have seen other scientific areas do so with great success.

Wagner Faculty