The Genesis Group of the Mohawk Valley has announced the creation of “The Genesis Center — A Catalyst for Excellence in Research and Data Analytics,” a new initiative to use adaptive leadership to enhance collaborative efforts between the Genesis Group and area colleges, school districts, businesses and community volunteers.

“The Genesis Center will promote and develop pipelines between area schools and colleges, with area businesses and industries that will provide data analytics and quantitative analysis coursework, training, internships and degree programs and other opportunities that allow our region to be a leader in this field,” the group said in its announcement during a press conference on Thursday.

The Genesis Center will offer research opportunities for data analytics and quantitative analysis projects and program developments, while also acting as a catalyst in this pathway to our community’s future.

“We’re excited to introduce the Genesis Center to our community. This adaptive leadership initiative uses collaborative engagement to seek those innovative and creative ideas and initiatives that will move our region forward,” said Raymond J, Durso, Jr., president/CEO of the Genesis Group.

The Genesis Center will start out as a remote initiative, officials said, adding that work has already begun via video-conferencing.

Future meetings, events and research will continue using online and virtual settings, such as on-going educational sessions with Bank of New York Mellon. BNY Mellon and its staff continue to offer insight on the role of data analytics in the banking and finance industry.

Although the center is a project initiated by the Genesis Group, it will have many partners, officials added. Teaming up to serve as lead advisers are Jason McCarthy, associate professor/scientific operations manager at the Masonic Medical Research Institute in Utica, and Jacob Childress, head of payments, clearing and settlement central utility at Bank of New York Mellon.

“Each of us is bombarded with data on a daily basis both at home and at work. By itself, each point of data may not be very useful, but when combined with the data from others, relationships can be made which can provide advanced insights and solutions to problems across a multitude of disciplines and professions,” McCarthy said.

“By leveraging data that each of us are authorized to access, we can derive knowledge and actionable insights to degrees never before possible,” Childress said. “This is accomplished through tools and methods such as R, Python and Agile, now readily available to nearly everyone.”

“Ultimately, this creates a new environment and culture shift around data driven decision making, with more precision and valuable outcomes for organizations and communities,” Childress added.

Other partners in the newly launched project include Herkimer County Community College, Utica College, Hamilton College, Mohawk Valley Community College and SUNY Polytechnic Institute as well as several area school districts and businesses.

Research performed at the Genesis Center will focus in the areas of education, healthcare, agribusiness, insurance, banking and finance, and public safety.

Committees for each area will conduct research so that we can learn more about the role of data analytics in their field and share that information with the community while working to increase the amount of jobs in the field of data analytics and quantitative analysis, the announcement said.

This initiative also seeks to increase the number of students interested in studying data analytics and quantitative analysis at area colleges, and also to conduct research with local businesses using data analytics to identify their needs and find ways to meet them.