Computer Science was well represented at a workshop on the challenges of variability in data-driven research that was held earlier this week.

The workshop was organised by St Andrews’ Institute for Data-Intensive Research (IDIR) as part of it’s “Summer of V’s” workshop programme. the V’s of big data — volume, velocity, variability, and veracity — all pose significant challenges, and IDIR is looking to address them in a way that brings together researchers from across all disciplines.

Participants questioning the panel

Professor Simon Dobson gave a talk and sat on the discussion panel for the event, which was chaired by Professor Aaron Quigley. Aleks Sazonovs enthusiastically tweeted the event live.

The workshop attracted over sixty participants from Schools and Units across the whole university, which shows how data-driven research affects all our activities and how important it is to share and disseminate techniques widely.

A full report can be found on IDIR’s web site, and more detailed blog posts about the talks will appear in the coming days. The next workshop is scheduled for July to discuss another V — veracity — and will hopefully garner as much enthusiasm as this one.