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The Promise and Potential of Big Data: A Case for Discovery Informatics
Author(s) -
Honavar Vasant G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/ropr.12080
Subject(s) - big data , data science , scientific discovery , informatics , computer science , process (computing) , analytics , business process discovery , work in process , data mining , business process , engineering , cognitive science , psychology , operations management , business process modeling , electrical engineering , operating system
The emergence of “big data” offers unprecedented opportunities for not only accelerating scientific advances, but also enabling new modes of discovery. While we understand how to automate routine aspects of data management and analytics, most elements of the scientific process currently require considerable human expertise and effort. We argue that realizing the full potential of data to accelerate discovery calls for a concerted effort in advancing Discovery Informatics: (i) understanding, formalization, and information processing descriptions of the entire scientific process; (ii) design, development, and evaluation of the computational artifacts (representations and processes) that embody such understanding; and (iii) application of the resulting artifacts and systems to advance science (by augmenting individual or collective human efforts, or by fully automating science).