DATA FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

The Second National Conference on Scientific and Technical Data

Scope and Purpose

Many of the major scientific challenges we face today require combined expertise from many disciplines. Complex problems such as the understanding of global climate change, advancing biotechnology, and progress on various types of problems facing society can only be addressed by combining and using data that in the past have been available to researchers in one field only.

In conjunction with several federal science agencies, the U.S. National Committee for CODATA is organizing the second national data conference to address important multidisciplinary issues in managing and using scientific and technical (S&T) data, and to improve the visibility of those issues nationally. The main focus will be to promote the availability and usefulness of S&T data to all users, both in research and in the broader society, using examples of ground-breaking and innovative applications and highly creative partnerships. Three main challenges will be addressed in this context:

How can access to and use of S&T data for interdisciplinary basic and applied research be improved?

How can access to and use of S&T data by other sectors and applications areas outside research (e.g., in business, education, media/entertainment, general public understanding) be improved?

How do we measure and evaluate productivity and performance in the management and use of S&T data within disciplines, across disciplines, and in other sectors and applications areas?

About CODATA

The Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) is an interdisciplinary committee organized under the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). CODATA is concerned with all types of quantitative data resulting from experimental measurements or observations in the natural and social sciences and engineering disciplines. Particular emphasis is given to data management problems common to different scientific and engineering disciplines and to data used outside the field in which they were generated. The general objectives are the improvement of the quality and accessibility of data, as well as the methods by which data are acquired, managed, and analyzed; the facilitation of international cooperation among those collecting, organizing, and using data; and the promotion of an increased awareness in the scientific and technical community of the importance of these activities.

The U.S. National Committee for CODATA is organized by the National Research Council to administer activities within the United States related to CODATA. The Committee is funded by several federal agencies. Over the past decade, the Committee has completed several studies that have identified and analyzed issues related to maximizing the broad availability and usability of scientific and technical data. This second national conference builds upon those studies and the first data conference, and is intended to spur further progress and cooperation in S&T data activities for interdisciplinary research and intersectoral applications.