The Graduate Academic Certificate in Big Data and Intelligent Systems provides ready-to-deploy knowledge and skills but also a path to a master’s degree in the Department of Information Science.  Students are expected to have a strong foundation in math, science and technology. Data Science is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines information science, computer science, statistics and social sciences in dealing with issues pertaining to the increased reliance on big data and knowledge extracted from the data using intelligent systems. Big data and intelligent systems are the key to driving economic growth and life quality improvement recently and in the near future. The Dallas Fort-worth Metropolitan area is ranked among the top 10 regions in the U.S. for technology-oriented businesses with an expected expansion growth of at least 11% in the next 5 years. The growth will include data science and intelligent jobs created by the relocation of large companies and newly started high-tech companies.