Statistics at a Crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities in the Data Science Era

《十字路口的统计：数据科学时代的挑战与机遇》研讨会定于2018年10月15日至17日在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的水晶之门万豪酒店举行。2002年在国家科学基金会举办了上一次讲习班，讨论统计界今后面临的挑战和机遇。当时，由于出现了更多和更大规模的数据，统计界看到了快速变化和持续增长。从那时起，该领域的增长，包括统计学本科生和研究生课程的规模，以及统计学与其他领域之间互动的广度，都加速了。与此同时，公共部门和私营部门都接受了大数据，因为越来越多的人认识到，大数据可以提供对生物过程、精确医学、气候变化、社会和经济行为、风险评估和决策的本质的洞察。统计界认识到，我们正处于十字路口，这是一个前所未有的机会，可以使这一学科现代化，成为数据科学的主要参与者，但也面临着在广泛的数据科学界中被淘汰的不可忽视的风险。拟议的研讨会提出了一个关键问题，即我们从现在开始将走向何方？讲习班力求邀请统计和数据科学领域的主要研究人员和教育工作者解决这一问题，并编写一份报告，叙述统计利益攸关方(如个人研究人员、学术部门和资助机构)面临的挑战和机遇。研讨会指导委员会确定了六个可供深入讨论的主题。它们是(1)统计和数据科学的基础；(2)统计和计算；(3)新兴应用；(4)数据挑战；(5)大数据时代的推理；(6)新时代的统计教育。这些主题被确定为涵盖范围广泛的问题和研究专题，这些问题和研究专题对于讨论的目的是及时和具有前瞻性的。计划通过在线论坛进行讲习班前和讲习班后的讨论，以寻求更广泛的社区意见。研讨会报告将提供给国家科学基金会和整个科学界。研讨会上提出的建议将为在量化领域及其他领域寻求职业生涯的年轻研究人员和学生提供指导。讲习班还将促进妇女和其他任职人数不足的群体参与研究界。更多信息可在研讨会网站上找到，https://hub.ki/groups/statscrossroad/overview.This奖反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The workshop "Statistics at a Crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities in the Data Science Era" is scheduled to take place at the Crystal Gateway Marriot, Arlington, Virginia, October 15-17, 2018. A previous workshop was held at the National Science Foundation in 2002 to discuss the future challenges and opportunities for the statistics community. That was a time when the statistics community saw rapid changes and sustained growth from the emergence of more and larger-scale data. Since then, the growth of the field, including the size of the undergraduate and graduate programs in statistics and the breadth of interactions between statistics and other fields, has accelerated. In the meantime, both the public and the private sectors have embraced big data, as more and more people recognize that big data can provide insights into the nature of biological processes, precision medicine, climate change, social and economic behavior, risk assessment and decision making. The statistics community recognizes that we are at a crossroads with an unprecedented opportunity to modernize the discipline to become the major player in data science, but also with a non-ignorable risk to make ourselves obsolete in the broad community of data science. The proposed workshop asks a critical question, where do we go from here? The workshop seeks to invite leading researchers and educators in statistics and data science to address the question and to produce a report narrating the challenges to, and opportunities for, statistics stakeholders (e.g., individual researchers, academic departments, and funding agencies). The steering committee of the workshop has identified six themes for in-depth discussion. They are (1) Foundations of statistics and data science; (2) Statistics and computation; (3) Emerging applications; (4) Data challenges; (5) Inference in the age of big data; and (6) Statistics education in the new era. These themes were identified to cover a wide range of issues and research topics that are timely and forward-looking for the purpose of discussion. Pre- and post-workshop discussions via online forums are planned to seek broader community input. The workshop report will be made available to the National Science Foundation and to the scientific community at large. The recommendations made at the workshop will provide guidance to young researchers and students who pursue careers in quantitative fields and beyond. The workshop will also promote participation of women and other under-represented groups in the research community. More information can be found at the workshop website https://hub.ki/groups/statscrossroad/overview.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.