Letter from the Executive Director:
The pace of innovation and the opportunity to advance scientific discovery continues to move forward at an astounding rate, which can be seen both in academic and industry research. BIDS was founded two years ago to serve as a center of gravity for all of the incredible developments happening in the name of data science at Berkeley and beyond.
With a new institute designed to bring together researchers from across domains and methods, we are con- stantly working to make BIDS a place and community where deep expertise comes from many areas, and our goal is to share this knowledge with fellow researchers. In this annual report for 2015, you will find a number of initiatives that aim to make BIDS’ great potential a reality.
We have brought together a tremendously talented and diverse community that spans dozens of different disciplines but shares common tools and techniques while attempting to answer critical questions that face our society and help us better understand our universe. I am proud to share these initiatives, which are only possible because of the driven commitment that our community displays on a daily basis.
Perhaps the biggest commonality you will find in the projects and activities that take place through BIDS are the ways they all improve the accessibility of complex research. Whether it is through the development of new open source software tools like the Jupyter Project, training opportunities like Software Carpentry, or the many lectures we host, our community is eager to find new ways to share what excites them and, in doing so, make us all better researchers.
If you are not already participating in BIDS events or new research opportunities, I encourage you to join us to both learn from your peers and help others learn from your experience.
Kevin Koy
BIDS Executive Director
