SOUTH KINGSTOWN – DataSpark, home of the Rhode Island DataHub and the former data analytics arm of The Providence Plan, joined the University of Rhode Island in February.
DataSpark maintains numerous databases related to health, education, workforce and more, and conducts data analyses critical to public policy and many state agencies in the state. Those databases have moved with DataSpark to URI, becoming a component of the university.
DataSpark Director Kimberly Pierson, and the group’s eight staff members, are now URI employees, reporting to Karim Boughida, dean of University Libraries. Starting in June, DataSpark will be housed in URI’s Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons.
“This program has a very skilled team and rich data, and because the library is in the business of providing and curating data in a variety of forms, we felt this would be a great collaboration,” Boughida said in a statement Tuesday.
“We will build on DataSpark’s strengths, which includes the collection and analysis of economic and social data,” Boughida said. “They still have many contracts and commitments across the state. We’d like to connect that work with our faculty and students, explore business intelligence and seek national partnerships.”
DataSpark specializes in data analysis, data visualization, web application development, Geographic Information System mapping, data systems development and report development.
URI Provost Donald H. DeHayes said when discussions first began with DataSpark, it was clear that both entities “share the common mission and vision of serving the best interests of Rhode Island and its citizens, and we could do this work better together than either of us alone.”
“We quickly became very excited about the great opportunities that would develop for faculty, staff, students and Rhode Island through a partnership involving the university and DataSpark. We set out to find a way to create a formal alliance,” DeHayes said.
Boughida said DataSpark will work with URI’s new Big Data Collaborative, a multi-college, cross-disciplinary effort including a cluster of nine new faculty members, several existing faculty, a proposed new Data Science major, as well as the formation of a high-performance computing core facility and center, which serves as a resource for URI faculty and students and other universities and colleges around the state.
DataSpark’s focus is the state’s economy and social systems, but URI is using Big Data to examine major national and international issues as well as local Rhode Island challenges, such as those related to health reform, coastal resiliency, workforce development and educational opportunities.
“This alliance is a perfect match with the university’s mission and commitments as the flagship public research and state land-grant institution,” Boughida said. “Many citizens are asking public officials to make decisions and policy grounded in good data and thoughtful analysis. Indeed, this is truly a public good.”
DataSpark is the latest ProvPlan program to find a new home.
In February, a learning program that also had been part of The Providence Plan moved to Roger Williams University. Ready to Learn Providence, whose goal is to close the achievement gap for low-income students by working with family members and early-childhood educators, became part of RWU’s School of Continuing Studies, based at the school’s Providence campus.
A spokesman for The Providence Plan could not be reached for comment regarding the status of its remaining programs, YouthBuild, a hands-on program focusing on construction skills, and Building Futures, a state-recognized industry partnership that helps Rhode Island residents prepare for a career in the building trades through apprenticeships.
In January, the former Providence Plan finance director, Charles F. Denno, agreed to plead guilty to “devising and executing” a scheme in which he fraudulently converted more than $500,000 of Providence Plan funds for his own use.
Denno was fired from the nonprofit educational entity in July over the embezzlement allegations.
The Providence Plan receives federal, state and private grant funds to support educational and other programs for adults and children in Rhode Island.
Lori Stabile is the PBN web editor.
