What is the Research Commons? (1)

Construction of Data-Centric Science - the Fourth Scientific Methodology

With dramatic developments in information and communications technology (ICT), our life is surrounded by ubiquitous information, and data is constantly being generated from our lives, almost automatically creating an accumulation of information in unprecedentedly large amounts. How we combine this data and utilize it effectively for different purposes will hold the key to the success in industries, government, science and technology, and a variety of aspects of our society in the age of Big Data.

In the world of science and technology, an increasingly large amount of data is being collected from the natural world, including the global environment and the outer space, and from the laboratories of universities and research institutions; thus, the effective development and utilization of this academic big data is key to the innovation. In this context, data-centric science has been added to conventional theoretical science, experimental science, and computational science, as the fourth scientific methodology, and is being promoted globally as a strategic aspect of research that aims to solve academic and social problems.

We believe that three crucial aspects are required for the promotion of data-centric science: database, modeling, and human resource development. First, we must waste no time preparing platforms for utilizing basic scientific data - for example, from earth and environmental science, life science, human and social science, academic information, physics, and chemistry - as big data. We have to develop the method for modeling and analyzing this as “decipherable knowledge,” and provide platforms for promoting its use. Finally, the incorporation of human resource development into this process of transdisciplinary research integration will enable us to see the sustainable research development cycle to become the foundation of our future society.

The Data-Centric Science Research Commons positions this dynamic activity as a triad research activity, composed of Data Platform Management, Modeling and Analytical Platform Management, and T-Shaped and π-Shaped Human Resource Development. Each of the databases and projects featured on this website are model cases of this, which generate new research results in the fields of life, earth, human, and social sciences, while cooperating more effectively between universities and research institutions. These activities in Japan will also play a pivotal role in cutting-edge research and development by acting as a hub and feeding back results, expertise, and human resources to the academic community.

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