UALR and MIT partner on institute for chief data officers

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have partnered to create the first academic institute devoted solely to the professional development of chief data officers.

The primary role of the Institute for Chief Data Officers will be to train professionals who will take on the role of chief data officers and to provide opportunities for doctoral students to conduct research on chief data officers.

“Think of a chief data officer as a person who is primarily responsible for the data at a company, making sure it is of the right quality and that the use of it is warranted,” said Dr. Lawrence Whitman, dean of the UALR George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. “For most large organizations, including universities, data is one of the biggest assets we own.”

According to the Stamford, Conn.-based information technology research company Gartner, 90% of large organizations will have a chief data officer by 2019.

The International Society of Chief Data Officers has also entered into a partnership with the new institute. In addition to donating $25,000 to the creation of the institute, the society will provide research topics and input for doctoral students to conduct research at the institute.

Dr. Richard Wang will lead the institute as the executive managing director after a decade at MIT, where he serves as the co-director for MIT’s Total Data Quality Management Program. In 2006, Wang helped Dr. John Talburt, a professor of information science who will serve as the UALR campus director at the institute, create the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program, which offers a graduate certificate, master’s degree, and doctoral program.

Whitman will serve as chairman of the institute’s board of advisors. Program Manager Nihal Erian and Co-Director for China Programs Ningning Wu will also join the institute at UALR. At MIT, Dr. Stuart Madnick will serve as the campus director.

The first training course offered by the institute will be “Foundations for Chief Data Officers.” The course will be held Sept. 26-29, 2016, and Feb. 6-9, 2017, at UALR. It will cover the definition and landscape of chief data officers, introductions to big data concepts, data analytics, data integration, and data policy, strategy, and governance.