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, 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 roadmap 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, and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance shall submit the advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan to the Governor, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and 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 such 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, 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 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.

STATEMENT

This bill directs the Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute, Office of Information Technology, and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance to coordinate and establish an advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan. The advanced cyberinfrastructure strategic plan is to include, but is not to 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 roadmap 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 is to 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; (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.

Under the bill, "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 such 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, and the Stevens Institute of Technology for the purpose of encouraging New Jersey 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.

The bill provides for a $150,000 appropriation from the General Fund to the Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2013 to carry out the purposes of the bill.

The advanced cyberinfrastructure plan provided for in the bill will include, among other things, a roadmap for the development of a shared data cloud that integrates data infrastructure, hosted data and data analytics. An advanced cyberinfrastructure allows businesses, researchers, and students, via a network backbone, to connect with supercomputers and data repositories from their desktops to analyze and store large, complex data sets. The ability to analyze and store large, complex data sets is key to achieving breakthroughs in finance, mathematics, medicine, and other applied sciences that would not otherwise be possible through the use of traditional computational, data management, and software tools.