The Digital, Analytics, Technology and Automation (DATA) Initiative is a cross-disciplinary, innovative hub of thought leadership committed to researching, developing and sharing new knowledge and approaches for transforming organizations into data-driven businesses and helping them to manage seamless transitions between the natural and virtual worlds. 

Hosted by the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, DATA pursues a holistic model of integrating cutting-edge research and education in the domain of data-driven and technology-enabled analytics and automation. This initiative brings together all of the University's colleges and embraces interdisciplinary collaboration as a core tenet— thus enabling a generation of intellectual leadership in the areas of digital convergence.

As an industry-academic collaborative, DATA connects academic scholars and industry leaders to harness the strong feedback loops between research, scholarship and meaningful connections with industry practice, leading to new research insights and practical applications. Such collaboration also informs innovative curriculum design and development, involving new educational programming with a strong experiential component and industry engagement opportunities.

DATA Initiative Co-Founders

Partner Organization

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Our vision is to “transform the construction industry by building smart.” Because we believe if there's a better way, we'll find it. Learn more »

2020 Year in Review

The DATA Initiative has had an incredible year connecting organizations, faculty, and students. Its first year featured a range of activities that reached hundreds of members including the annual forum, machine learning workshops, and three new analytics programs. With a growing network of affiliated researchers across all colleges, rising student engagement and deepening collaborations with Northeastern partner organizations, the DATA Initiative is poised for an outstanding 2021. 
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Latest news

Father Isaac Keeley

Meet the most unlikely beer maker in North America

Father Isaac Keeley, a 71-year-old Trappist monk who lives in a monastery in central Massachusetts, didn’t know the first thing about using social media to take his beer business national. Then he received a call from the Digital, Analytics, Technology and Automation (DATA) Initiative team at Northeastern.
Photo of a building with decorative lines drawn diagonally through it

2nd Annual DATA Forum

The DATA initiative and Schneider Electric co-presented the second annual DATA forum