Sponsored by:

Senator BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

Directs Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute, Office of Information Technology, and New Jersey Big Data Alliance to develop advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

As reported by the Senate Economic Growth Committee on January 30, 2014, with amendments.

An Act directing the Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute, Office of Information Technology, and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance to develop an advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan, and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute, Office of Information Technology, ¹NJ EDge.Net, Inc.,¹ and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance shall coordinate to establish an advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan for the State, which shall include, but not be limited to: (1) assessing the State's cyberinfrastructure, public and privately-owned, including, high performance computing, data storage systems, advanced instrumentation, data center facilities, visualization environments, the human expertise necessary to operate the cyberinfrastructure, and the software and advanced networks that link these resources together; (2) creating a road map for implementing advanced cyberinfrastructure improvements throughout the State, which shall include, but not be limited to the development of a shared data cloud that integrates data infrastructure, hosted data and data analytics, and the development of a high speed network infrastructure. The shared data cloud shall host an open data repository to address big data challenges and catalyze collaborations between academia, industry, and government; (3) recommending implementation strategies and policies for improving the State's cyberinfrastructure to promote economic development in this State; (4) identifying the benefits and the essential applications of cyberinfrastructure; (5) recommending workforce development strategies to ensure that the necessary human expertise is in place; and (6) identifying the means of using advanced cyberinfrastructure to drive economic development and facilitate the creation of public-private partnerships.

b. The Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute, Office of Information Technology, ¹NJ EDge.Net, Inc.,¹ and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance shall submit the advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan to the Governor, and pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature no later than one year following the effective date of P.L. c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

c. As used in this section:

"Big data" means high volume information assets, high velocity information assets, high variety information assets, or all three, that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery, and process optimization.

The term "cyberinfrastructure" includes, but is not limited to, data networks, computational facilities, computing resources, large data sets, specialized software applications, information technology usage improvements, and the human expertise necessary to develop and manage these resources.

"New Jersey Big Data Alliance" means a consortium consisting of Rutgers, the State University, Princeton University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan University, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Kean University, ¹Montclair State University,¹ and the Stevens Institute of Technology for the purpose of encouraging State government, academia, and industry to address, in a strategic and coordinated manner, the significant and immediate challenges posed by the proliferation of big data sources and the resultant deluge of digital data.

2. There shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute $150,000 for the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2014 to carry out the purposes of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

3. This act shall take effect immediately.