Alumnus Donald Costello back at IIASA

Professor Donald F. Costello first arrived at IIASA in February 1981 with seven children and his wife Connie to work in the Management and Technology Program. Now as a distinguished speaker from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Prof. Costello collaborates with IIASA to investigate the potential of the Institute incorporating Big Data.

"The availability of a cascading amount of new digital data encompassing all areas of human activity changes the playing field of what data and information is available to do some varieties of systems analysis. Coupling this with the explosion in the variety of hardware, software (sometimes called Analytic tools) and computational environments suggests that IIASA/ASA examine the possibility of supporting new approaches to doing systems analysis.

Few systems analysts working today have the skills to filter the enormous body of data available to choose the best data to enhance their systems research. Similarly the current researcher cannot distinguish all the analytic tools and choose those that best help change data into information in their special case. The computer system envisioned will assist the systems researcher in this choosing process by the use of a question answer sequence to explode the best possible chain of data, DBMS, analytic tools and machine environment to do this variety of systems analysis.

This initiative will attempt to locate funding sources that will endorse efforts to define the scope and design of such a future oriented facility.

This approach to Big Data will attempt to assist researchers in locating the various elements of the system analysis process that will magnify the contribution that IIASA/ASA can make to the critical system problems facing the world today.

Those interested in the elements of this new initiative should contact me at 01-402-472-5005 in the USA or by email at ."

Dr. Costello's lecture at IIASA

Last edited: 01 June 2016