The data science revolution has its grip on every sector, especially academia. Virtually all universities, big and small, want a piece of the pie, which they an- gle for by building infrastructures and programs for competing (and retain- ing) students, scholars, fundings, and so on. Harvard is no exception. But given our unique convening power, we also thought, ‘Why not bake another big pie for everyone to share?’ And so in 2018, we set out to create a global digital hub where data science is the common language and curi- osity the only passport needed, with its intellectual mission being defining and shaping data science as an arti- ficial ecosystem. After a year of brain- storms, blueprints, and a good number of sleepless nights, HDSR was born on July 2, 2019.
digital platform and brewing up ideas such as a conference on data literacy coming in fall of 2023. I am grateful to the co-directors of the HDSI, Francesca Dominici and David Parkes, who strongly supported these HDSR missions from the get-go, and who were the co-pilots of HDSR (from July 2021 to December 2022) while I was off on a sabbatical expedition. Their dedication allowed me to take a breath, learn new culinary (and fermentation) skills, and bring back new recipes that could serve HDSR and its missions. Our shared vision also allowed my sabbatical to serve as a strategic op- portunity to stress-test HDSR during its formative years. This exercise under- scored the importance of our submis- sion model—by invitation, post-screen- ing—revealing its reliance on active content building by the editorial board rather than unsolicited submissions. A comparison of submission numbers from 2022—when active content build- ing was largely on hiatus—and the first three years reiterates the significance of active content building, which ac- counts for over 60% of our submission pipeline. This reminder acted as a spark, ignit- ing the HDSR boards to gear up for the upcoming year with renewed vigor. Yes, we’ve got a lot cooking up in the HDSR kitchen. We’re organizing an array of special issues and themes on topics of global interests and impact, such as generative AI, climate change, and data privacy. And that’s not all; we will be launching new columns dedicat- ed to data ethics, reproducibility, and philosophy for data science, which will bring the total number of columns to ten. It’s like a buffet of thought-pro- voking insights, and there is something (delicious) for everyone.
The excitement of our impending fifth anniversary, still a year away, has already set the gears in motion for planning a delightfaul theme. While holding the suspense to fuel your an- ticipation, I can say that it will pair well with the celebration of HDSR and the broader realm of data science. Before I wrap up, a warm, heartfelt thank you to the HDSI team, Harvard’s Office of the Provost, all HDSR boards and authors, and most importantly, the unsung heroes: our anonymous reviewers, the HDSR editorial office, and our friends at MIT Press and Pub- Pub. Last but not least, our dear read- ers, thank you! We are here because you are there.
Whipple V. N. Jones Professor of Statistics, Harvard University Xiao-Li Meng, Editor-in-Chief, HDSR
CHECK OUT THE HDSR PODCAST! Over 27 episodes released + over 60,000 downloads
HDSR features not only everything data science, but also data science for ev- eryone. We embrace the idea that this big pie can be palatable, digestible, or even irresistible. After all, shouldn’t we all be data literate in this day and age? We certainly think so, and that’s why we’re working hard on enhancing our
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