The Obama Administration is getting behind Big Data thinking to exploit it.

On Thursday afternoon it's supposed to announce a Big Data R&D Initiative.

The media advisory sent out says: Researchers in a growing number of fields are generating extremely large and complicated data sets commonly referred to as ‘Big Data.' A wealth of information may be found within these sets with enormous potential to shed light on some of the toughest and most pressing challenges facing the nation. To capitalize on this unprecedented opportunity to extract insights and make new connections across disciplines we need better tools and programs to access, store, search, visualize and analyze these data.

"To maximize this historic opportunity - and in support of recommendations from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology - the Obama Administration is launching a Big Data Research and Development Initiative, coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and supported by several federal departments and agencies."

There's going to be a one-and-a-half hour webcast starting a 2 o'clock EDT at http://live.science360.gov/bigdata/.

It involves the director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren; the director of the National Science Foundation Subra Suresh; the director of the National Institutes of Health Francis Collins; the director of the United States Geological Survey Marcia McNutt; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering Zach Lemnios; the deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Ken Gabriel; and the director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy William Brinkman.

They're also bringing in a panel of so-called thought leaders from academia and industry for a discussion moderated by Steve Lohr of the New York Times.

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