The
Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute is being reinvigorated through an extended partnership with Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a new $35 million commitment to the organization over the next five years.
A partnership between Milwaukee-based life insurance company
Northwestern Mutual, the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and
Marquette University, the Data Science Institute launched in 2018 to prepare students to meet the growing need for data scientists across various industries. The NMDSI was initially supported through a $40 million investment from all three partnering entities. Since its inception, the partnership has launched three sponsored research projects and awarded more than $17 million in grants.
“The goal here was to create the formation of a technology ecosystem that really advances southeastern Wisconsin as a national hub for technology,” said
Jonathan Stark, executive director of NMDSI. “The initial focus was data science more broadly, but as technology continues to emerge, we’re seeing more and more focus on AI.”
NMDSI has done several research projects that leverage data science to address social issues. In its first round of research projects, NMDSI’s faculty and student researchers looked at inequity in a Milwaukee neighborhood, the opioid crisis and 2020 voter sentiment. The institute has also recently looked at AI workforce development and the impact within the manufacturing sector.
NMDSI focuses its work within three core areas: research and innovation, talent, and community and partnerships. Within each area, the institute touches upon the various emerging technologies in various ways.
When NMDSI was first formed, the organization's initial funding was projected to last approximately five years.
“Any time you have these types of programs, it’s always in the back of folks’ minds the need to create a sustainability plan,” said Stark. “While this isn’t a business per say, there’s always a lot of interest in pushing Milwaukee to be a national hub for technology and I think people recognize that the NMDSI has been poised since its inception to lead these efforts.”
The new $35 million investment was split up “roughly equal” between all three partners, according to Stark.
NMDSI is earmarking part of the funding for faculty members to propose research in the areas of artificial intelligence, data ethics and bias, behavioral economics, financial literacy, and health and wealth inequities. Ideally, NMDSI will fund approximately 10 research proposals each year over the next five years. Funding could be deployed as soon as the start of 2024.
“We hope seeding these efforts will also enable us to go after external sources of funding through the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health,” said Stark. “This serves as a catalyst to push these research efforts even further.”
Looking ahead, the NMDSI plans to introduce a series of new programs that address current data science trends and market needs. Ultimately, the organization hopes to serve as a center of excellence in data science. This will include expanding its research opportunities, curricula development funding, scholarships, community development project funding and working with a diverse range of strategic partners across academia, non-profits, government agencies and local corporations.
“I think people recognize that there’s an immense potential for us to have a significant impact on the people and communities in Milwaukee,” said Stark. “We don’t want to do this in a vacuum. I think it’s important that we have community players coming to use and saying we think we have a problem the NMDSI can tackle.”
NMDSI also plans to create additional scholarships to increase diversity in STEM studies, and to provide more students with competitive research internship opportunities.
