Duke University’s research efforts into the benefits and uses of “big data” – launched with great fanfare and $50 million two years ago – is getting another big boost with nearly $10 million of additional funding.

The funding will support Duke’s :Information Initiative at Duke,” or iiD as Duke calls it.

“The iiD has provided invaluable opportunities for our faculty and students to translate vast amounts of data into major breakthroughs,” Duke President Richard Brodhead said in announcing the funding on Monday.

“This infusion of funds will allow us to continue to advance our understanding of how to convert data into knowledge for human benefit, as well as train students in these critical skills.”

Companies such as SAS in Cary and IBM invest heavily in better analyzing and utilizing the terrabytes of data companies, governments, individuals and healthcare providers are producing around the world each day. The use of cloud computing in which high-powered machines can be used to collaborate and provide more crunching of information is a key focus of IBM’s future as well as such companies as Red Hat, which is based in Raleigh.

The exploding “Internet of things” – smart devices from home thermostats to smart phones to electric meters – is only adding to the information glut that “big data” tools and researchers can mine for information.

Funds will be used to endow professorships, graduate fellowships in engineering and programs on data-driven problem solving.

An anonymous donor made two gifts totalling $6.67 million. The remainder came from challenge funds dediced by Anne T. and Robert M. Bass who launched the Bass Connections initiative at Duke with a $50 million gift in 2013. The iiD program is part of Bass Connections.

“The availability of massive amounts of data within every disciplinary domain is transforming research and education,” said Robert Calderbank, iiD director and a professor in Duke’s departments of electrical and computer engineering, computer science and mathematics. “With this generous support, Duke and iiD will continue to lead the way in developing truly innovative opportunities for our students and faculty to engage with big data and impact society in the classroom and beyond.”

Duke noted that over the past two years the iiD project include:

  • Collaborations with Duke Medicine to deploy personalized health care;
  • Working with the Duke University Energy Initiative to understand energy usage and improve efficiency
  • Working with Duke’s Social Science Research Institute to inform better public policies.
  • Participating in the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering, such as reverse-engineering the brain to uncover its vast, unrealized potential and to improve detection and treatment of brain-related diseases.
  • Facilitating screening for autism and childhood mental disorders. By designing algorithms to automatically detect abnormal movements or behaviors captured on video, the team hopes to provide valuable tools to help clinicians detect symptoms and intervene earlier.
  • Launching “Data Expeditions,” in which graduate students lead undergraduates in analyzing so-called “messy data sets,” from baseball scores to art market records from 18th-century Paris.
  • A student group this summer will examine Durham housing trends.

For more information about the iiD, go to http://bigdata.duke.edu/