Commitments

Reflecting together

The alliance aims to create a "digital agora", i.e. a space that encourages the sharing of data, expertise and best practices between stakeholders. This space is a place for exchange and participative reflection between the actors of the Toulouse area. This website can be considered as the first stone of this agora.

Crossing the silos

The question is raised of interoperability of data in order to share them between scientists from different disciplines: data are managed in "silos" with heterogeneous technologies that neithr facilitate interoperability nor interdisciplinarity. Semantic technologies provide answers to data integration needs. The promise of data crossover is that the resulting added value should be greater than the sum of the parts.

Fostering bridges between scientific disciplines through FAIR data

Initiatives in terms of national research infrastructure (HumaNum, bioinformatics, universal sciences, etc.) are abundant, but each has its own approach. It is important to support the coordination of the actors and their initiatives. The alliance is studying ways of setting up a meta-infrastructure that federates and extends research data and computing infrastructures, thus contributing to their sharing and openness (open science) while respecting the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

Studying the development of Collaborative and Open Environments

Virtual Research Environments (VRE) are designed to facilitate the exploitation of interoperable data, their analysis, and the development of adhoc applications. They are vectors of the digital transformation of research laboratories by facilitating the use of resources in knowledge practices and research methods. We are keen to share experiences and ongoing disciplinary initiatives in order to define:

  • an infrastructure allowing the integration of storage and computing resources
  • the service layers constituting research infrastructures and Virtual Research Environments (VREs).

In addition, we identify and propose training methods for the development and use of these environments.

Reusing data with Artificial Intelligence

The alliance also focuses on the interdisciplinary use of data and services produced and used by research, and on the usability of models and simulations in knowledge practices by different audiences. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning have introduced new methods of analysis that reverse the scientific paradigm with data mining, and give an increasing place to representations as well as semantics and mathematical modelling.

Strengthening Data Science skills through research, training and animation

It is important to develop strong and recognized regional expertise in data science, whether in the area of data hosting or data enhancement. The objective is to increase Toulouse's scientific attractiveness through the attraction of data and associated infrastructures. The alliance participates in the reflection on the modalities to make the regional organization and infrastructures evolve in order to have the scientific expertise on data and their representations recognized, capitalized and valorized. It organises days, seminars and workshops with the aim of exchanging, sharing, contributing and training.