Key research themes
1. How can historical datasets be effectively transformed and integrated using contemporary Big Data methodologies?
This theme explores the challenges and methodologies associated with applying modern Big Data paradigms to historical datasets. It focuses on how data created in earlier epochs, often using fundamentally different logics and formats, can be re-documented and translated to be usable for present-day computational analysis. Addressing these issues is vital for extracting meaningful, structured historical knowledge from vast archives and for enabling innovative applications such as social network reconstruction or spatiotemporal information systems reflecting past eras.
2. What roles have early pioneers and foundational technologies played in shaping the conceptual and practical development of computing?
This theme investigates the contributions of key historical figures, technologies, and conceptual innovations that have laid the groundwork for modern computing. Focused on early machinery, symbolic logic, programming concepts, and epistemological shifts brought about through computation, this area illuminates how the evolution of computing has been influenced by both technological inventions and intellectual frameworks stretching from the 17th century to the mid-20th century.
3. How can the history of computing be leveraged pedagogically and culturally to enhance understanding and relevance today?
This theme addresses strategies for using historical computing scholarship and artifacts to enrich current education and public engagement. It examines how narratives, computational heritage preservation, and curated multimedia dissemination can link computing history with contemporary technological literacy and cultural identity, and discusses institutional and scholarly roles in facilitating this transmission.