Welcome to Digital Research 2012

The UK's premier Digital Research community event is being held in Oxford 10-12 September 2012.  Come along to showcase and share the latest in digital research practice - and set the agenda for tomorrow.

Digital Research 2012 features an exciting 3-day programme with a great set of invited speakers, bringing together digital researchers and developers from all disciplines to showcase and share their latest digital approaches and visions - from Big Data Analytics and e-Infrastructure to Citizen Science and Software Sustainability. We welcome researchers and developers from academia and business, and at all stages of their careers.

Programme Highlights

New Science of New Data Symposium and Innovation Showcase (Monday 10th)

Keynotes from Noshir Contractor (Northwestern University) on Web Science, Nigel Shadbolt (Government Information Adviser) on Open Data and a closing address by Kieron O'Hara (philosopher, computer scientist and political writer) - with Rob Procter speaking on twitter analytics, Stefan Staab on geolocated social media, and Web Observatories too.  Also the launch of the Software Sustainability Institute's Fellows programme and community workshops.

Future of Digital Research (Tuesday 11th)

Keynotes from Stevan Harnad on Digital Research: How and Why the RCUK Open Access Policy Needs to Be Revised, Jim Hendler (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) on Broad Data (not just big!), and Lizbeth Goodman (UCD) on SMART spaces by and for SMART people. Sessions are themed on Open Science with talks by Peter Murray-Rust and Neil Chue Hong, Smart Spaces as a Utility and future glimpses from the community, all culminating in a Roundtable discussion on the Future of Digital Research.

e–Infrastructure Forum and Innovation Showcase (Wednesday 12th)

We open with a dual-track community innovation showcase, then launch the UK e-Infrastructure Academic Community Forum where Peter Coveney (UK e-Infrastructure Leadership Council and UCL) will present the "state of the nation" followed by a Provider’s Panel, Software, Training and User’s Panel - an important and timely opportunity for the community to review where we are and determine what's needed in the future.

DevChallenge, Workshops and more

There's a lot more happening throughout the event, including an exciting DevChallenge hackathon run by DevCSI, software surgery by the Software Sustainability Institute and multiple community workshops - plus the Digital Research 2012 dinner in College and a reception in the spectacular Museum of Natural History. We're very grateful to everyone who has come together to make this event possible, including e-Research South, Open Knowledge Foundation, Web Science, the Digital Social Research programme, our Digital Economy colleagues and the All Hands Foundation.