Can data be investigated across domains?
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A question that has persistently been in our heads while developing the TRANSGENE project is whether the conclusions that we draw for genomic databases are applicable to other forms of big data. With this in mind, towards the end of the project we organised an international workshop to address potential synergies and incommensurabilies in the study of data produced in different domains. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the workshop adopted an online format and run during three consecutive afternoons.
In the first afternoon, we connected our investigation of the history of genomics with other projects that explore ethical and social aspects of clinical data and plant breeding databases. James Lowe, presenting on behalf of TRANSGENE, was joined by Catherine Heeney (University of Edinburgh) and Hugh Williamson (University of Exeter). The next day, Kean Birch (University of York at Toronto), Liz McFall and Karen Gregory (both based in the University of Edinburgh) further expanded the scope of the workshop by discussing data produced by large technological companies, insurance firms and the platform economy.
Robert Bud (Science Museum London) and Edward Nik-Khah (Roanoke College, Virginia) offered commentaries on the first two panels. During the last day of the workshop, Liliana Doganova (CSI Mines Paris Tech) and Miguel García-Sancho (PI of the TRANSGENE project) delivered provocations that were followed by an extended discussion among participants. The overall conclusion was that, in spite of significant differences in data contexts, there was scope for collaboration and further exchange between scholars analysing data across disciplines and domains.
Video recordings of the presentations, as well as written summaries of the discussions and biographies of participants, are available at the TRANSGENE website.
