We are happy to share that the work of the Centre for Data, Culture & Society (CDCS) is integrating into Edinburgh Futures Institute as Data-led Methods and Research Technology support.
This move signals our renewed commitment to supporting research that explores the interplay between data, culture and society: three words put together to invite reflection on the interconnections between technology, human creativity and social change, and to signal our ambition to support researchers in the arts, humanities, and social sciences exploring and creatively interrogating digital tools and computational approaches.
In 2019, when CDCS was founded, the exciting new developments in technology centred around virtual and augmented reality. People were beginning to talk of a metaverse, a world where the virtual integrated seamlessly into our daily experience, opening out new creative mediums and new modes of engagement. We invested in VR headsets for researchers who used them in disciplines as diverse as nursing, fine art and psychology. We bought Lidar scanners to support the creation of 3D data that could be used to simulate environments. We taught researchers how to use these tools and software, how to code, process data and use computational methods to answer their questions.
In the seven years since, we’ve trained thousands of people in data-led and computational research methods and built a thriving community of practice around digital research. We’ve hosted inspiring speakers and built international networks, supported early-stage ideas and helped to build prototypes and get projects off the ground and over technical hurdles. We contributed to cross-institutional and national conversations about how digital research can be effectively supported and developed, and helped to build infrastructures that serve the research community across the UK and Europe.
A lot has changed throughout these years. With the public release of Chat GPT in 2022 and the subsequent AI arms race, the ways in which researchers engage with technology has shifted dramatically. Now, the focus is on processing ever increasing amounts of data. Agents can be used to code, websites can be built in minutes, LLMs are able provide instruction on how to develop complex workflows. Working with technology is easier than ever, but understanding it –knowing what our computers are doing, how our data is being used, and how this changes our world-is becoming harder.
At the same time, the context of our work has changed as Edinburgh Futures Institute has established itself as the University of Edinburgh’s space for future-facing innovation, and framed its mission around the social and human challenges raised by technological development. Those challenges require researchers to interrogate the interplay between data, culture and society in new ways, and to explore the practical realities of the machines we live with.
Supporting this increasingly vital work is what our team does so well, and that is why it now feels like a natural progression to close our chapter as CDCS so we can integrate our work fully into Edinburgh Futures Institute. By embedding our work within the Institute, we’re renewing our commitment to continue supporting vital research that harnesses data and technology to build better futures. We are proud of everything we’ve achieved as CDCS, and we are excited to continue our important work as the Data-Led Research Methods and Research Technology team at Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Further information
Read about what we achieved as CDCS
Find out about data-led research methods support at Edinburgh Futures Institute
Get in touch with us at: efi.innovation@ed.ac.uk
