The term was coined in the 1990s relating the need for statisticians to join with computer scientists aiming at adding mathematical rigor to the computational analysis of large data sets. The use of the term also implied the need for data science to be understood as a multidisciplinary endeavor and to engage with and work together with subject-matter experts.

Source: Kelleher, J. D., & Tierney, B. (2018). Data science. MIT Press.