Seeking Partners for LISA 2020: Creating a Network of Statistical Collaboration Laboratories in Developing Countries

• Activity Number: 92
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 4, 2013 : 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Author(s): Eric A. Vance*+
• Companies: LISA-Virginia Tech
• Keywords: statistical collaboration ; statistical consulting ; international travel ; capacity building ; developing countries ; student recruitment

Abstract

LISA (Virginia Tech's Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis) will educate and train statisticians from developing countries to communicate and collaborate with non-statisticians and then support these statisticians to create statistical collaboration laboratories in their home countries to help researchers, government officials, local industries, and NGOs apply statistical thinking to make better decisions through data. At LISA, we will unlock the collaborative potential of technically sound statisticians who will in turn unlock the research potential of their collaborators and teach other statisticians to do likewise. These local research collaborations, now with the power of statistical thinking open to them, will be key to improving human welfare worldwide.

We are looking for partners to help us achieve our vision of creating a network of 20 new statistical collaboration laboratories in developing countries by 2020. One aspect of our plan is to recruit American students to earn their Ph.D.'s in statistics at Virginia Tech while helping people solve real-world problems and traveling around the world in support of the LISA 2020 network.