US-Japan Big Data and Disaster Research

Post Date

June 9th 2014

Application Due Date

September 8th 2014

Full Proposal Deadline(s): September 08, 2014

Funding Opportunity Number

14-575

CFDA Number(s)

47.070

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Grant

Funding Activity Categories

Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Number of Awards

8

Eligibility Categories

Other

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $2000000

• Award Range:

  $None - $None

Grant Description

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) are embarking upon a collaborative research program to address compelling research challenges that arise from leveraging Big Data approaches to transform, at both human and societal scales, disaster management. Several recent reports have documented how transformative improvements in disaster management will require systems approaches to analyze large, noisy, and heterogeneous data and facilitate timely decision making in the face of shifting demands (Computing for Disasters, http://www.cra.org/ccc/files/docs/init/computingfordisasters.pdf; Big Data and Disaster Management, https://grait-dm.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BigDataAndDisaster-v34.pdf). Specifically, disaster events and responses result in non-linear behaviors, and there exist large and unique interdependences among variables, multiple concurrent temporal and spatial scales, and few single optimal solutions. The resultant complexity causes algorithmic and data complexity, as well as challenges that arise in modeling chaotic systems. Other sources of complexity include the need for maintaining data security and privacy, as well as the resilience of the underlying computing and communications infrastructure during and following a disaster event. At the same time, rapid advances in technology are enabling new opportunities for addressing disaster management. For example, new computer systems and networks – namely smartphones, tablets, and other types of edge devices; embedded and hybrid systems spanning automobiles, aircraft, chemical processing plants, and electrical power grids, etc.; sensor networks; and next-generation networking technologies spanning wireless, mobile, and cellular networks – are giving rise to potentially powerful data streams requiring novel analytics capabilities to facilitate timely and effective actions, as well as open questions about the resilience of these systems in the face of disasters. This joint NSF/JST solicitation aims to address two specific challenges in the context of leveraging technological advances and using Big Data approaches to support effective disaster management: Capturing and processing the data associated with disasters to advance capabilities for disaster modeling as well as situational analysis and response modeling; and Improving the resilience and responsiveness of emerging computer systems and networks to facilitate the real-time data sensing, visualization, analysis, experimentation and prediction that is critical for time-sensitive decision making. This NSF solicitation parallels an equivalent JST solicitation (available at http://www.jst.go.jp/sicp/announce_usjoint_bdd.html). Proposals submitted under this solicitation must describe joint research with Japanese counterparts who are requesting funding separately under the JST solicitation.

Contact Information

• Agency

  National Science Foundation

• Office:

  None

• Agency Contact:

  NSF grants.gov support
  grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
  

• Agency Mailing Address:

  If you have any problems linking to this funding announcement, please contact

• Agency Email Address:

  grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov

• More Information:

  NSF Publication 14-575