The data science field pertains to the principles of developing methods for collecting, storing and analyzing data, with regard to a wide variety of academic disciplines and commercial applications – so as to draw conclusions from, sort, predict, and create knowledge from them, in addition to developing tools that are based on the data and their analysis, and in view of the human and social aspects of this process. In recent years there is an increased and accelerated growth of the field and financial investments accordingly, both from industry and from universities and private research institutes. Although the approach that puts the data at the center of research is not new, in recent years there has been a global revolution in the field, which stemmed from the development of designated hardware components used to transfer, store and process data, owing to a significant increase in the quantity and availability of data (big data), and the ongoing development of methods and algorithms. These developments have also led to the current revolution in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), to the extent that certain areas in the data sciences, such as machine learning, are identified as artificial intelligence and vice versa.

In 2018, the PBC approved the recommendations of the Steering Committee that was appointed for the purpose of allocating a designated budget that’s reserved to the development of this field, in the amount of NIS 150 million, which primarily consists of supporting the establishment and consolidation of data science and artificial intelligence research centers at universities (NIS 120 million in total). These centers, which are supported by the PBC, are currently operating at seven research universities in Israel.  In March 2020, an invitation was published to provide additional support to research centers, whose results were included in 2021 tenders. In addition, scholarship programs for outstanding PhD candidates and post-docs have been very successfully operational for the last 3 years, and they are expected to continue. At the same time, the PBC approved – in the framework of the 2016-2022 multiannual program – more than 30 pertinent programs, two thirds of which are bachelor’s degree programs, with the remainder being master’s degree programs.

A National Department for Synchronizing the Operations of Research Centers Program was launched in July 2020 (the IDSI or Israel Data Science Initiative). The executive committee of the IDSI consists of the directors of research centers at universities, and is headed by a director selected in a competitive process. The purpose of the IDSI is to leverage inter-institutional cooperation and collaborations with public agencies, industrial players and overseas parties, and to host an international annual convention, with the first convention scheduled for January 2022 (in the Dead Sea area).