International Council for Science : Committee on Data for Science and Technology

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C O D A T A

14th International CODATA Conference
and
19th International CODATA General Assembly
Chambéry, France, 18-24 September 1994

Conference

Some 285 scientists and engineers gathered in the charming city of Chambéry to participate in this important biennial Conference of CODATA, the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology. The meeting, entitled Data and Knowledge in a Changing World The Quest for a Healthier Environment, was clearly a scientific triumph as specialists representing 30 countries and many disciplines shared problems, exchanged ideas and proposed solutions relating to the evaluation and handling of scientific data.

Each day began with one or more plenary lectures followed by its portion of the spectrum of 38 parallel and 3 poster sessions which had been organized into three broad sub-programs of Materials, Computer Science and Environment. That approximately 225 oral and 50 poster presentations were given in those sessions indicates the high level of participation.

Plenary Sessions

The highlight of the opening session was an impressively illustrated plenary lecture by Sherwood Rowland of the University of California in which he chronicled the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and shared insights derived from his career in this and related areas of study. Following his lecture, the World Cultural Council presented Dr. Rowland their 1994 "Albert Einstein World Award of Science" consisting of a medal and a cash prize.

Addressing a topic of great interest to many workers in his plenary lecture, Nahum Gershon of the MITRE Corporation considered problems inherent in dealing with the vast quantity of complex and diverse data that technological advances now make routinely available. Because such volumes of data swamp our traditional methods for managing and utilizing them, new ways of deriving information and presenting it for human comprehension are needed. One such technique, visualization, is more than a method of computing. It is an art with a capability, of which the practitioner and viewer must be aware, for both reflecting and distorting reality. Innovative uses of colour and animation were illustrated as means of enhancing the perception processes.

In the third plenary lecture, Vincent Douzal from CEMAGREF focused on the human dimension in artificial intelligence. Using cooking and taste as examples, he demonstrated the complexity of trying to develop a language that adequately represents the internal olfactory sensations of humans and a multi-dimensional space that satisfactorily models taste. For a given recipe, one can readily envision a composition space but generating evaluation (ranking) and perception (taste) spaces is considerably more complex and fuzzy. Finding a `best solution' in the field of sensory design does not follow directly from the framework of classical optimization.

John Rodda of the World Meteorological Organization in Switzerland outlined, in his plenary presentation, the urgent need for capturing data pertaining to the global hydrological cycle. Simply stated, mankind has a finite supply of fresh water which human and natural activities are combining to make less available. Significant problems of accessibility are foreseen in the next century. An impressive international observation system has been mobilized to capture data on precipitation, evaporation, river flows, water quality and underground water volumes as an important first step in understanding the extent of the problem.

The aim of the fifth and final plenary address was to characterize the new era of `agile manufacturing' and the associated data issues. Kenneth Preiss, with joint appointments at Ben Gurion University in Israel and the Agility Forum in the United States, defined `agility' as the ability to thrive in an environment of unpredictable, unrelenting change. A strong case was made that only agile industries will survive in the current business climate; instead of just trying to sell products, they must sell solutions. The implications and opportunities for those involved in materials data were clear.

Parallel Sessions

Not surprisingly, the rich variety and scope of presentations in these symposia reflected the multidisciplinary aspects of CODATA aspects which not only make CODATA unique and interesting but provide powerful mechanisms for addressing data issues on an international scale. This was especially evident in the Computer Science and Environment sub-programs but in two complementary ways. In Computer Science, data problems arising in many disciplines were seen to have common informatics-based solutions; in Environment, the data and techniques from many disciplines were seen to be needed to find solutions to a common problem.

Space limitations make it possible to cite only a few arbitrarily selected highlights. The Proceedings will, of course, contain full details.

In the Materials stream, those attending a session on prediction and evaluation of physical and energy data by group correlation techniques heard a description of a novel method for calculating octanol/water partition coefficients from structure data which eliminates the need for `magical' constants and appears to be a very powerful predictive tool. In another talk, the benefits and logistics associated with a CODATA-mediated international depository for thermophysical data were outlined. A symposium on understanding the dynamics of complex biomolecular systems gave an excellent overview of the data which can be obtained from both small molecules and biological macromolecules using theoretical modeling tools. It was evident that modeling has an important contribution to make and that, in close symbiosis with experimental studies, should be considered an increasingly powerful tool for understanding both molecules and macromolecules and their interactions.

The initial session in the Computer Science stream focused on issues associated with the full and open availability of scientific data to the international research community, an area in which CODATA has been asked by ICSU to take a leading investigative role. A session on distributed data and computer networks dealt with both general aspects and specific applications of online information systems while, in another session, the importance of broad standards, such as ISO 10303, for effective industrial data exchange was thoroughly aired. In another symposium, speakers examined not only the integration of scientific data into artificial intelligence systems and the interplay of data and knowledge therein but the means of dealing with fuzzy data and incomplete models. Those attending the session on recognition of rigid and deformable objects heard reports on innovative shape analysis methods used in the generation and numerical representation of shape data relevant to the natural sciences, technology and industry. Bioinformatics was the subject of at least three symposia. One examined issues concerning the infrastructure needed for cohesion and background information; the second considered topics related to preparing a global inventory of pertinent databases; the third explored possible roles for CODATA on the worldwide bioinformatics scene.

The stream on Environment opened with a broad-ranging discussion of national and international policy issues from which three main elements emerged: unimpeded circulation of data is essential because environmental changes ignore national and geographical boundaries; data must be available in formats readily usable by the monitoring agencies; data are only an instrument for the implementation of policy. Participants in the session on methodology and concepts in ecotoxicology were reminded of the need to use the tools of both chemistry and biology in understanding the environmental impact of products. Gaining access to toxicological and ecotoxicological data was identified as a problem in this domain as well. Presentations and discussions in the symposium on space and earth remote sensing projects made it clear that remote sensing techniques are especially useful in the context of multisatellite and multiscale applications; data drawn from interdisciplinary databases are vital in the construction of thematic and other maps needed to address environmental problems. Two sessions were devoted to regional environment changes. In the first session, dealing with data on geodynamics, seismic risks and erosion, the first group of talks focused on data acquisition, treatment and storage along with practical uses of the resulting databases; the second group considered the relations between geodynamics and seismic risks, with particular emphasis on the Alps. The second session, looking at desertification in Mediterranean regions, concluded that an overall understanding of the multifaceted degradation processes is still lacking and there is a pressing need to improve data management and data exchange at the multinational and multidisciplinary levels. Exposing another view of the vast range of issues pertaining to the environment, the symposium on biodiversity discovered some common themes but also considerable diversity in approach and implementation. Some projects were laying solid groundwork by getting organisms and taxonomies in place while others were emphasizing the use of informatics and identification tools. In common with many fields, those concerned with biodiversity are also experiencing the tension between the desire to make access to data free via the Internet and the need to recover costs to ensure continued development and enrichment of those data.

General Assembly

Progress Review and Evaluation

The scientific work of CODATA is carried out through its Commissions,Task Groups and Working Groups. One of the primary functions of the biennial General Assembly is to receive progress reports from these working units, as well as applications for new ones, and then to decide which units should be approved for the next biennium. To summarize more readily what was reported, it is convenient to consider the activities roughly along the lines of CODATA's basic goals.

The promotion of the evaluation and, in general, the quality control of data as well as the improvement of the methods by which data are acquired, managed and analyzed.

The Fundamental Constants TG has reviewed existing data and plans to complete and publish the next readjustment by end of 1995. In the area of data that are important to global change, geology and industry, the Geothermodynamic Data TG continued evaluations and assessments of data relating to sulphides, oxides and silicates and have a book waiting for publication. The very active Survey of Data Sources in Asian-Oceanic Countries TG is undertaking the establishment of a database on animal viruses as well as surveys of databases dealing with microbes, fish and environment protection in that part of the world.

Means of reducing costs and duplication of effort in data collection, data publishing and database development are being pursued according to their respective concerns by the Distributed Data Depository Network for Experimental Thermophysical Property Data and Databases for Experimental Data and Electronic Publishing TGs. Following an editorial tour de force, the Commission on Data for Global Change published the proceedings of their workshop on Crop Modeling.

The facilitation of cooperation among those collecting, organizing and using data.

Continuing its record of solid achievement, the Biological Macromolecules TG convened a colloquium bringing together representatives from all the major international genome sequencing projects and provided an active forum for information exchange among the international bioscience databases. Similarly, the Commission on Standardized Terminology for Access to Biological Data worked with groups as diverse as the Federation of Scientific Editors and the IUBS Commission on Plant Taxonomic Databases to encourage policies that will result in more uniform use of terminology and hence easier development of comprehensive taxonomic data networks. In areas related to health, important gains were made by this Commission as they raised funds for, and collaborated with, the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses and the International Leishmaniasis Network in developing standardized descriptors for viral characteristics and setting up pilot databases respectively.

Scientists from every country in the region with significant scientific activity were brought together at a highly successful meeting convened by the Survey of Data Sources in Asian-Oceanic Countries TG. Workers from a wide variety of disciplines, who otherwise might never have met, assembled to discuss data issues of common concern and to formulate new, innovative projects. As an another example of the cross-fertilization fostered by CODATA, engineers, industrialists, academics and economists gathered at a workshop on the role of data in decision making in science and technology which was organized by the Artificial Intelligence and Computer Graphics TG.

An increase in awareness of the importance of these activities

An ongoing problem encountered by those associated with any type of data-related activity is a means of quantifying the value of data to a given endeavour. Towards that end, the Materials Database Management TG completed a cost/benefit survey and a preliminary analysis of the results. In service to ICSU, the Commission on Standardized Terminology for Access to Biological Data continued its important work in raising the awareness level within the bioscience Unions and other international scientific organizations of the need for standardized terminology and nomenclature for data collection and management of biological inventories and surveys. Finally, the Industrial Data Commission and the Distributed Data Depository Network for Experimental Thermophysical Property Data TG both hosted workshops aimed at making their respective communities more conscious of data activities and their relevance.

In summary it is clear that these working units generally enjoyed a productive biennium. Given that CODATA is an organization operating primarily through volunteers and suasion such results are to be applauded. In addition, some pride may be taken in that the aggregate leveraged value of activities is estimated to be about ten times the actual amount spent out of CODATA's budget.

Delegates representing the Scientific Union, National, Co-opted and Affiliate Members of CODATA approved those Commissions and Task Groups which had requested renewal along with two new Task Groups Global Plant Checklist Network and Thermodynamic Data for Key Chemical Substances. In addition, the establishment of the Working Group on Data Access, initiated previously by the Executive Committee, was formally ratified thus bringing to eleven the number of scientific programs approved for 1995-96.

Elections

Officers
President: Prof. J.-E. Dubois (France)
Past President Prof. D. Abir (Israel)
Vice-President Prof. L. Gurvich (Russia)
Vice-President Prof. A. Tsugita (Japan)
Secretary-General Dr. G. H. Wood (Canada)
Treasurer Mr. J. Crease (UK)

Ordinary Members
Dr. M. A. Chinnery (USA)
Prof. J.-L. Delcroix (France)
Prof. E. Fluck (Germany)
Prof. A. S. Kolaskar (India)
Prof. F. A. Kuznetzov (Russia)
Mr. K. W. Reynard (UK)
Prof. M. Tasumi (Japan)
Dr. J. H. Westbrook (USA)

G. H. Wood
Secretary General
27 October 1994