Information Science and Engineering for the Public Sector (ISEPS) is a research and education program that operates at the convergence of three critical areas: Public Sector Services, Information Science & AI, and Data Governance, Ethics & Policy. Graduate students engage in interdisciplinary study and projects that integrate these domains to address complex, real-world challenges, such as:
Public Sector Services
ISEPS projects tackle critical challenges faced by public and private entities in the delivery of services that protect the public interest. Our graduate training focuses on public health, urban infrastructure resilience, climate adaptation, and sustainable materials. Beyond technical skills, decision makers for the public sector must navigate information networks and data-driven services like public health warnings and property valuations, which are essential for infrastructure resilience, environmental safeguards, climate preparedness, and material certification.
Information Science and AI
Technological innovations in information science will play a critical role in modernizing activities in the public sector. For example, real-time data on vehicular or foot traffic patterns can be linked to spatial data on nearby facilities, local commerce, monitoring of infrastructure performance or environmental quality. AI-driven models may respond to queries of when and where infrastructure maintenance is required.
Data Governance and Policy
The expansion and use of data available to the public and public sector entities entails a distinct set of ethical and legal issues that must be addressed in the early stages of innovation. Challenges include ensuring public safety by limiting malevolent use, ensuring the privacy of citizens, and defining ownership and property rights associated with this information.
Our vision is a new model for graduate education that applies Information Science tools to enhance public welfare in areas such as materials and resource sustainability, protection of public health, and resilient and adaptable infrastructure in the face of global change.
Public sector institutions are responsible for essential services—such as infrastructure, environmental protection, public health, energy systems, and transportation—that increasingly depend on complex, rapidly expanding data streams. Yet the ability to harness these data is often constrained by fragmented information systems, workforce capacity gaps, and growing concerns around privacy, security, and equity. Addressing these challenges requires professionals who can:
ISEPS faculty and student teams bring expertise in AI and machine learning, environmental and health data science, public sector engineering, governance, and policy analysis. Students join a collaborative academic community committed to methodological rigor, ethical stewardship of data, and meaningful engagement with public sector partners—preparing graduates to lead across government, industry, research institutions, and the nonprofit sector.
Traditional graduate training in public sector–relevant fields is often fragmented: engineering programs may focus on technical systems without sustained engagement with data governance or policy; information science and AI programs rarely direct their tools toward public sector challenges; and policy programs may emphasize institutional dynamics without the computational or engineering depth needed to design effective, data-driven solutions.
Our program closes these gaps by:
Structuring truly cross-unit training
Students complete the Core Compendium Course and at least two electives across the three ISEPS domains—Public Sector Services, Data Science & AI, and Policy/Ethics/Governance—ensuring breadth, integration, and cross-school participation across Engineering, Sanford, NSOE, and Biostatistics.
Pairing methods with application
Coursework is complemented by experiential learning, including team projects cocreated with publicsector partners, professional skills workshops, and external engagement opportunities such as internships, community outreach, and research collaborations with agencies like Durham County, NC DHHS, and NC DEQ. This structure moves students from analysis to realworld implementation.
Building a scholar community
Monthly seminars, lunch and learn sessions, and interdisciplinary workshops create a sustained cohort experience where students share methods, present research, engage with practitioners, and develop mentoring relationships across units—providing the community infrastructure that traditional programs leave to chance.
In short, ISEPS offers a solutions-oriented, public sector–focused training pathway that links engineering, information science, and policy to the realities of service delivery, governance, equity, and impact.
We believe that public service can be a dynamic field—one that rewards creativity, risk-taking, and innovation. ISEPS trainees engage in study, research, and hands-on learning that provides advanced, interdisciplinary training suitable for career tracks such as:
The ISEPS program brings together engineering, data science, and policy to tackle the most pressing public-sector challenges. Explore the full program overview to learn how our interdisciplinary approach, curriculum, and opportunities can help you build expertise across critical domains.
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The Information Science & Engineering for the Public Sector (ISEPS) program is one of multiple Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Collaboratives (IGECs) offered at Duke.
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