October 8, 2014

NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) - Infographic

Image showing growth of NCBI data storage NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K)

Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) is an initiative by the National Institutes of Health to fund research, training and development to increase the utility of Big Data in the biomedical research enterprise.

In 1990, when the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) was just starting out; all of its data could be held on three floppy disks totaling 6.3 megabytes. By 1993, all data could be stored on a single CD-ROM with a 500 MB capacity. Today, the NCBI stores over 20 petabytes of data. This is comparable to 400 million four-drawer filing cabinets filled to capacity.

BD2K funds come from all of the 27 Institutes and Centers at NIH and from the NIH Common Fund. These awards span four areas which, in combination are meant to enrich the accessibility and efficiency of biomedical Big Data science:

  • Enabling Data Utilization
  • Analysis Methods and Software
  • Enhancing Training
  • Centers of Excellence