The National Science Foundation (NSF) Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Institutes are an integrated fabric of interrelated institutes that aim to accelerate discovery and innovation in multiple areas of data-intensive science and engineering.
The Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Community is a national ecosystem of NSF-funded institutes advancing data-intensive science, engineering, and education through convergence research. Established under the NSF Big Idea Harnessing the Data Revolution, the HDR Community brings together domain scientists, data scientists, and cyberinfrastructure experts to accelerate discovery, develop scalable and interoperable tools, and prepare a diverse data-enabled workforce.
Member institutes—including A3D3, Imageomics, ID4, iHARP, and I-GUIDE—serve as both independent centers of excellence and collaborative partners, addressing challenges ranging from climate resilience and polar research to biology, materials design, and artificial intelligence. Through shared resources, cross-institute initiatives, and open science practices, the HDR Community strengthens the national research enterprise and ensures that data-driven innovation contributes to scientific progress and societal well-being.
In 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) unveiled a set of "Big Ideas," ten bold, long-term research priorities aimed at guiding future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering. These Big Ideas created unique opportunities to position the United States at the cutting edge of global research by encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration. One of these initiatives, Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR), launched a national-scale effort to enable new modes of data-driven discovery across scientific domains.
Through this effort, NSF established a network of HDR Institutes that continue to lead innovation in data-intensive science and engineering. These institutes harness diverse data sources and develop cutting-edge methods, technologies, and infrastructure for data management and analysis. By bringing together researchers from across disciplines, the HDR Institutes support convergence in research and foster collaborative, co-designed approaches to solving critical scientific and societal challenges.