Sizable Impact

In the fall of 2016, prior to the presidential election, I interviewed DJ Patil, the first Chief Data Scientist of the United States, a position created by President Obama in early 2015. A main mission of his job was to harness the power of our digital world, while protecting our nation from its threats. Data, big or even small, can offer various directions of exploration. Even before studying the data, one must ask what data to collect? Whom to collect it from? How much to collect? The questions can, in themselves, lead to stagnation. Faced with an enormous task, Patil developed metrics to measure the suitability of potential ideas. He sized up the issues. Would they have an impact fitting his needs and the mission of his office?