Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data, IMFD

Impact area: Process optimization
Speciality: Data Analysis

One of the most important and challenging problems faced today by computer science and other disciplines related to information is data. It has been estimated that by 2020 society will have produced a total of 44 zettabytes, or 44 trillion gigabytes. The growth rate doubles every couple of years and, at the same time, data formats grow more complex, and so does the need for integrating the sources and uses of data.

Extracting information from data and using it in an intelligent and efficient manner provides today a unique opportunity that also poses scientific challenges which can only be addressed by the integrated and coordinated work of experts from different disciplines.

The Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data, a joint initiative led by the University of Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, with the collaboration of other universities, is the first multidisciplinary research center in Latin America that brings together scientists from the fields of computer science, mathematics and statistics, political science and communications, to advance the frontiers of the science of data by looking for answers to the main problems in this area today.

To achieve this goal, the institute has organized its research in five interconnected working packages, with specific goals:

(A) To develop new techniques for the improvement of the capabilities to acquire and interpret complex data, by integrating the variety of data formats and standardizing the tools for information extraction.

(B) To propose new algorithms, heuristics and data structures in order to develop safer and more efficient storage systems for big and complex data.

(C) To study and develop systems based on artificial intelligence, data mining and visualization for the extraction and comprehension of existing patterns in data, in order to present the results for their efficient and intuitive use by different kinds of users.

(D) To contribute to the science-based development of an infrastructure to exploit public data and make the information it generates available through a platform that supports the public governance.

(E) To foster the effort for a better comprehension of the generation, uses and impact of social data, by the virtuous and interdisciplinary interaction of computer science, mathematics, political science and communications.

All of these working packages are interconnected by ruling principles that promote scientific rigor in science of data, aiming to strengthen public accountability and transparency of information, so it can be efficiently used at the service of society.

Marcelo Arenas
Marcelo ArenasDirector
Pablo Barceló
Pablo BarcelóActing Director

contact e-mail: fundamentos@imfd.cl
communications e-mail: comunicaciones-imfd@imfd.cl
Phone: +569 9879 9427
www.imfd.cl