Data Science and Interdisciplinarity: III IMFD Workshop Draws More Than 100 Attendees

**September 2021.-** With more than 110 people taking part in simultaneous online talks, the **Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (IMFD)** held its **III Workshop**. The event showcased progress on research conducted under the [**Flagship Projects**](https://imfd.cl/proyectos-e-investigaciones/), which channel the interdisciplinary work of this research center, recognized for its frontier research in data science combining computer science, statistics, political science, and communication sciences.

“Our goal is to **study fundamental problems around data**; we created this institute with the idea of having a multidisciplinary group that could tackle these challenges from different angles, **from the most theoretical to the most applied aspects**,” said [Marcelo Arenas, director of IMFD](https://imfd.cl/investigador/marcelo-arenas/) and academic at the [P. Universidad Católica de Chile](https://www.uc.cl/), during the opening session, which reviewed the institute’s work three years after its founding.

Over two days, August 26 and 27, **more than 30 talks by IMFD researchers and undergraduate and graduate students** were presented, covering topics ranging from database theory to the impact of social media on society.

**The innovation experience**

The director of the [Innovation and Technology Transfer Unit](https://imfd.cl/equipo-de-innovacion-y-transferencia-tecnologica/), [Jazmine Maldonado](https://imfd.cl/innovacion-y-transferencia/nuestro-equipo-innovacion-y-transferencia/), presented a series of **projects carried out with the public and private sectors**, sharing the lessons and experience gained by this team. “**What we seek is to bring concrete solutions to companies and institutions that need them**, trying to apply what is done at the institute, and to **listen to what is needed so we can contribute from our knowledge**,” said Jazmine Maldonado.

To close the event, [Pablo Barceló](https://imfd.cl/investigador/pablo-barcelo/), alternate director of IMFD, called on all attendees to get actively involved: “**There is no doubt about the tremendous work we have all done: the diversity, the interdisciplinary work, and the top-level research**; the number of students and the work across all areas show that **together we are much stronger than separately**. It is this work that **has helped us expand research in Chile and impact the public debate on data**,” he said.