Data literacy seeks to prevent those who might remain digitally illiterate, and consequently digitally vulnerable to a myriad of cyber threats. At this historical junction where data-driven urbanism broadly understood supported by digital technologies is ubiquitous, data analytics and visualization are important skills to manage data used to allocate resources, distribute goods and services, and inform policy. Data analytics and visualization methodologically intersect with many disciplines and so does urban research. The complexity of the urban and that of data analysis requires an understanding of disciplinary convergence that is both conceptual and methodological.

Data analytics and visualization are at the core mission of the Center for Data Analytics and Visualization in Urban Research supported by the National Science Foundation grant, Build and Broaden Program awarded to Kean University (2023-2026). The title of the grant: “Building Social Science Data Analytics and Visualization Skills through Cross-Disciplinary Urban Research,” indicates the focus on data analytics and visualization framing the effort to bring cross-disciplinary research forward to address relevant urban issues. The conceptual basis for the grant seeks to advance data literacy, the democratization of data knowledge, and cross-disciplinary research to diminish the digital divide.

data literacy ~ democratization of data knowledge ~ cross-disciplinary urban research