First meeting on data science applied to astronomical operations
Date :
Changed on 31/08/2023
Last Friday, May 31, at the offices of Inria Chile, a first meeting was held to discuss and exchange information about data engineering and data science applied to astronomical facility operations. The workshop, jointly organized by Inria Chile and the Joint ALMA Observatory, was attended by representatives from both institutions, as well as participants from the Data Observatory of the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Metric Arts and researchers from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. The objective was to share ideas, challenges and identify potential collaboration opportunities.
Among the topics discussed were Inria Chile's future plans for the coming years, including promoting a knowledge transfer program through Deep Tech Certifications and how this applies to the operational environment of astronomical facilities. They also discussed the short and long term operational interests and challenges of the ALMA observatory and how a possible strategic alliance with institutions such as Inria Chile would enhance areas such as data engineering as an enabler of data science and data science in complex operations, among others.
Verbatim
It was an excellent opportunity to build a common vision of the challenges and opportunities for collaboration among the attendees in the area of data science applied to complex facility operations. This will certainly contribute to identify technology transfer potential in several directions.
Auteur
Poste
Head of the ALMA Computing Department
Verbatim
It has been a fantastic opportunity to present Inria's vision in Chile and its plans at a table with such a diversity of actors. Inria is present in Chile as a catalyst for research and innovation. In this sense astronomy is a pilot case for Inria in several areas, from cooperation in areas of top level applied research, as well as in the training of talent, the latter being a priority for Inria in Chile that will be implemented from a Deep Tech Inria certification program based on the use of opensource technology as a fundamental basis for the development of innovation.
Auteur
Poste
CEO of Inria Chile
Other important actors also participated, such as the Data Observatory of the Ministry of Economy, which has among its important pillars the DO Talent, strategically aligned with the strategic priorities of Inria. On the other hand, the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez was also present, contributing with the knowledge and experience of its researchers, thus joining this virtuous circle of collaboration in the field of astronomy.
This meeting is part of a long history of collaboration between the ALMA observatory and Inria, which began during the construction period of the ALMA project, and was consolidated at the end of 2011 through a collaboration agreement signed to improve the interfaces between computers and humans. In 2012, the "ALMA Dashboard", a system for visualizing the status of the observatory's 66 antennas and its internal systems, was developed jointly with Inria Chile. The success of "ALMA Dashboard" made it possible for both organizations to work together again, with the latest collaboration in 2018 through the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the development of an integrated monitoring system for the observatory's alarms known as "ALMA IAS", which will start operations at the end of July 2019.