The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, cordially invites you to attend a public lecture titled: Open data, big data and the future of science presented by Geoffrey Boulton.

The technological revolution of recent decades has produced an unprecedented explosion in the human capacity to acquire, store and manipulate data and information and to instantaneously communicate them globally, irrespective of location. It also offers new opportunities for scientific discovery through the exploitation of so-called big data and this in ways that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and include the social and human sciences; novel possibilities for commercial innovation; greater involvement of a wider range of stakeholders and citizens in co-production of knowledge; and a deeper democratic engagement with the ways that scientific knowledge is created and used.

Professor Geoffrey Boulton is Regius Professor of Geology Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, and former Vice-Principal of the University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland’s national academy). He is a member of the Council of the Royal Society, chairs its Science Policy Centre, and was principal author of its influential report, Science as an open enterprise.

Date: Wednesday, 10 June 2015                              

Time:  16:00

Venue: Senate Hall, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria

GPS co-ordinates: S25° 45’ 21” E28° 13’ 51”

Dress: Business wear

RSVP: By 4 June 2015 at [email protected]

Enquiries: Sheila Mnisi, 012 420 2847

Refreshments will be served after the lecture.