COTELCO Advances Big Data Agenda through 2013 HICSS Acceptance

Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, COTELCO/IDPP Executive Director and Ms. Amy Wozniak, former COTELCO Research Associate, will present their research paper Computationally Intensive Content Analysis of Public Diplomacy Data: Understanding the Public Remarks of U.S. Secretary of State 1997-2011 at the 46^th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) in Maui, Hawaii from 7-10 January 2013.

The research paper is a continuation of the assessment of the Accelerating Social Science Analysis for a New Age (ASSANA) methodology for the computer-assisted analysis of large-scale, unstructured, text-based data in international affairs research. Furthermore, the paper explores the role of the U.S. Secretary of State and uncovers important themes and patterns of speech in public diplomacy.

HICSS is one of the longest standing, continuously running scientific conferences in the world. It brings together researchers from every corner of the globe, and is ranked second in both Management Information System and Information System conferences.

The paper’s acceptance to the conference is another step forward in COTELCO’s development of a “big-data” research program, a subject matter that has been heavily highlighted in the media in recent months.

“Big-data” has been a buzzword amongst industry professionals, several notable news publications, and international science and research foundations. In April, the Wall Street Journal published an article that framed “big-data” as a growing industry in need of talented scientists to tackle its challenges, citing “big-data” as “the next big thing.” In May, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted a webinar on the subject, while the 2012 Joint Conference on Digital Library (JDCL) hosted a “big-data” round-table discussion this past June.

American University (AU) has also placed a heavy emphasis on “big-data.” Along with NSF, AU invested in Zorro, the High-Performance Computing (HPC) System in the summer of 2011. Zorro is designed to provide high-speed parallel/distributed data processing and research dedicated storage with high input-output capabilities.

During the conference, Dr. Cogburn will also host a full-day workshop on Cross-Cultural Communication and Collaboration in Accessible Cyberlearning and Global Virtual Teams, as well as chair a minitrack on Global Virtual Teams.

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