Parisi taking leave of absence to lend expertise to Italian government
Mimmo Parisi
The executive director of Mississippi State University’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC) will be tackling a new set of challenges in the coming months.
Domenico “Mimmo” Parisi will be taking a year-long unpaid leave of absence from the university to serve as president of an Italian government agency charged with improving unemployment in that country. He will begin his new role with Italy’s National Agency for Active Labour Policies, or ANPAL, on March 1.
“Dr. Parisi and the NSPARC team have had great success developing the Mississippi Works website and app that are connecting people to available jobs in our state, and I’m sure his expertise will be a great asset to the Italian government,” said David Shaw, Mississippi State’s vice president for research and economic development.
“We congratulate Mimmo on this honor and recognition of his expertise and look forward to his return as NSPARC’s executive director,” he said.
Since founding NSPARC in 1998, Parisi has led data science initiatives aimed at improving government, education, workforce and economic outcomes, including Mississippi Works.
Launched in 2014, NSPARC developed Mississippi Works through a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the Office of the Governor.
“I am deeply honored to lead this major jobs initiative with ANPAL, and I appreciate the university for working with me to make it possible,” Parisi said.
According to Parisi, he will work to deploy “big data -- smart data -- that can be used to connect job seekers to services that improve their chances of finding a job and applying for jobs successfully.”
A professor of sociology, Parisi also directs the state’s longitudinal data system clearinghouse and serves as one of Mississippi’s representatives on the Southern Regional Education Board. In 2018, he was honored by Gov. Phil Bryant and the State Personnel Board with the Excellence in Local and District Government Award, which recognizes excellence, innovation and accountability in public administration and service.
Allen Parrish, MSU’s associate vice president for research development, will lead NSPARC during the interim period.
“I’m confident we’ll have a seamless leadership transition and that NSPARC will continue its outstanding work while Dr. Parisi is on leave,” Shaw said.
NSPARC works with multiple government agencies and organizations to use data science. Workforce development, economic development, early childhood education and human services are just a few of the areas in which NSPARC conducts valuable research and creates innovative solutions. Recent highlights include:
* Last fall, NSPARC was awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration to assist in the fight against the opioid crisis. NSPARC is developing a statewide clearinghouse where data from multiple entities can be collected, integrated and aligned, providing partner agencies with data-driven decision-making tools and maximizing efficiency of Mississippi’s resources strategically and in high-needs areas.
* NSPARC hosted its third-annual Data Summit at The Mill Conference Center in 2018, where state agency, education and industry leaders examined the many uses of data to create “smart cities.” Sessions at the two-day summit explored how data science can lead to new innovations and processes within the “smart city” concept across various industries, including agriculture, communication and media, education, energy, infrastructure, city planning, government, health, transportation and logistics, public safety, security and data governance.
* A year ago, NSPARC opened a new 3,300-square-foot, state-of-the-art data center in MSU’s Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. It has a capacity to process and store more than 400 terabytes of data. The center contains 40 racks holding 20 servers and 60 CPUs running 567 virtual servers. The additional storage and computing capacity allows the NSPARC to increase its information input and research output.
Discover more about NSPARC at www.nsparc.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Jim Laird | Public Affairs
