Laura Albert

Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar

ASA President Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar and Laura Albert, 2023 president of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, led a November webinar about data literacy aimed at congressional staffers.

The webinar was hosted by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, known as INFORMS, and moderated by INFORMS Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Jeff Cohen. Stating that “America has a data literacy crisis that threatens our shared security and prosperity” in his introductory remarks, Cohen then asked Albert and Ghosh-Dastidar such questions as the following:

• What does data literacy mean?
• What professions are suffering the most from a lack of data literacy, data science, and statistics?
• How does data literacy help the United States remain globally competitive and strengthen our economic and national security?

The Data Science and Literacy Act, introduced in the US House of Representatives in February of 2023, served as an impetus for the webinar. The ASA and INFORMS have been collaborating and building support for the bill, which would establish a voluntary grant program for the US Department of Education to support such activities as ensuring access to data science, data literacy, and statistics education for all students; expanding access to STEM classes; and addressing equity gaps in access to STEM courses. Twelve US representatives have sponsored or cosponsored the bill to date.

View the webinar and learn about the Data Science and Literacy Act and how to request your representatives’ support for it in the ASA Community.