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Cyber and Data Sciences

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RAND was at the forefront of early computing and data science. In the 1950s, we built computers to improve researchers' analytic and modeling capabilities. We also developed data communications technologies that were forerunners of the internet. Today, RAND experts recommend policies and best practices to support safe and secure technological innovation and adoption.

Commentary

Reining in COVID-19 Disinformation from China, Russia, and Elsewhere

Nov 19, 2021

During the pandemic, misinformation and conspiracy theories have spread more virulently than ever before. The vast scale of the problem means scalable solutions like machine learning could be needed to rein in the bots, trolls, and conspiracy theories being spread by bad-faith actors.
Report

Understanding the Online Extremist Ecosystem

Dec 2, 2021

By the early 2010s, it was clear that the internet provided white supremacists and other extremists a tool to operationalize their hateful ideas and cause real-world harms. How can the average user understand their risk of exposure to extremist content and make informed decisions about the platforms they use?

Topics in Focus:

Explore Cyber and Data Sciences

Blog

The Most Popular RAND Research of 2021

As another extraordinary year draws to a close, we continue to believe that objective, nonpartisan research and analysis has a key role to play in navigating what continues to be a difficult time. Here are the 10 research projects that resonated most with rand.org readers in 2021.

Dec 22, 2021
Journal Article

Conspiracy Theories Have Much in Common. Their Differences May Hold the Key to Identifying When They Turn Violent.

RAND/Google collaboration to improve machine learning models to detect and understand the rhetorical functions of conspiracy theories over social media.

Dec 22, 2021
Blog

RAND Commentary Highlights of 2021

The paradox of 2021 was that even as COVID-19 dragged on, bringing a certain limiting sameness to many daily lives, the events of the year felt unprecedented. Vaccine rollouts, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, massive ransomware attacks, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, record numbers of job openings and people quitting, and more. RAND researchers weighed in on all these topics and more.

Dec 21, 2021
Commentary

Rethinking the Impact of Audio-Only Visits on Health Equity

New pandemic-era flexibility that allowed audio-only health visits to be routinely reimbursed as telehealth may be leading to substandard care for those it was meant to serve. It may be time to consider limiting audio-only visits in the pursuit of health equity.

Dec 17, 2021
Commentary

Could the Move Toward Zoom and Other Collaboration Technologies Due to the Pandemic Change the Very Make-Up of Populations?

Collaborative technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have transformed how we work, visit the doctor, and go to school. But can they also shift demographic trends in migration, fertility, morbidity, and mortality? And if so, how?

Dec 17, 2021
Report

Using social media data to 'nowcast' international migration around the globe

The aim of this study was to develop a tool to 'nowcast' migrant stocks by using real-time data from the Facebook Marketing Application Programming Interface (API) and official migration data from EU member states and states in the United States.

Dec 16, 2021
Journal Article

Modelling the Impact of Social Distancing and Targeted Vaccination on the Spread of COVID-19 Through a Real City-Scale Contact Network

We use mobile device data to construct empirical interpersonal physical contact networks in the city of Portland, Oregon, both before and after social distancing measures were enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dec 15, 2021
Report

Wing-Level Mission Assurance for a Cyber-Contested Environment

The authors offer ways to help wings assure their missions despite cyber attacks, focusing on how wings can maintain situational awareness, defend their systems, and respond to and recover from attacks to survive and operate when under cyber attack.

Dec 9, 2021
Journal Article

Best Practices in Statistical Computing

In this paper, we describe the key steps for implementing a code quality assurance process that researchers can follow to improve their coding practices throughout a project to assure the quality of the final data, code, analyses, and results.

Dec 8, 2021
Report

An Exploratory Analysis of Trends in Text Data from Congressional Oversight Hearings

Trends in what is said in congressional committees could signal the emergence of issues for policymakers. In this Perspective, researchers describe a proof of concept for how to acquire and begin analyzing congressional text data for policy analysis.

Dec 8, 2021
Blog

Addressing Anti-Asian Racism, Stabilizing U.S. Rivalries, the Debt-Ceiling Fight: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on countering anti-Asian racism, the instability of U.S. rivalries with Russia and China, the rise in extremist online activity, and more.

Dec 3, 2021
Report

Military Behavioral Health Staff Perspectives on Telehealth Following the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Military Health System (MHS) to increase telehealth delivery of behavioral health care. MHS behavioral health staff shared their experiences with telehealth during this period and perspectives on its continued use.

Dec 3, 2021
News Release

Patients OK Using Telehealth in Future, but Cost May Be Key to Maintaining Pandemic Boost in Use

Most Americans prefer to receive their medical care in person, but are generally willing to continue using telehealth services that have grown more common during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dec 1, 2021
Journal Article

Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Health Care: Telehealth in 2021

Book chapter reviewing the current state of telehealth use.

Dec 1, 2021
Journal Article

What If Health Care Worked Like Everything Else?

Editorial on peer-reviewed paper on WhatsApp use between PCPs and specialists by Israel army physicians.

Dec 1, 2021
Journal Article

Assessment of Electronic Health Records for Infectious Disease Surveillance: Final Mapping Exercise Report

The objective of the project is to investigate the current status of EHR systems in the EU and European Economic Area and the potential capacity for the use of these data for surveillance of infectious diseases within ECDC's remit.

Dec 1, 2021
Brochure

Cybersecurity

This brochure describes RAND Corporation research and analysis in this area, with examples from such diverse areas as organizational planning and implementation and cybersecurity workforce recruitment, retention, and management.

Nov 30, 2021
Report

The Origin and Evolution of the RAND Corporation's Terrorism Databases: Defining and Building a New Field of Knowledge

Two pioneers in terrorism research recount their experiences, challenges, achievements, and lessons learned, exploring the evolution of databases about terrorist incidents, groups, individual attributes, and mindsets, with eyes on what might be next.

Nov 30, 2021
Journal Article

Assessment of State and Federal Health Policies for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Researchers summarize the multitude of ways access to and utilization of treatment for individuals with OUD might have been expanded by state and federal policy during COVID-19 pandemic in 4 key areas: telehealth, privacy, licensing, and medication.

Nov 23, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Cyber and Data Sciences

Topic Synonyms:
Computer and Information Science and Technology;
Computer Science;
Computer Technology;
Computing;
Informatics;
Information Science;
Information Technology;
IS;
IST;
IT

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