In the technologically advanced society we live in, data science is the backbone of so much of our everyday life. It is all around us, and you are probably being affected by it right now. Data science is used to make targeted advertisements, to assist you when you search for something, speech and face recognition, and fraud/risk detection. If you use a laptop or smartphone you have felt the effects of data science. In simple terms, data science uses scientific methods to discover information through data. There are a lot more uses for it, and so it is no surprise that being able to understand analyze and make use of the patterns and other information found in data is a necessary part of our day-to-day.

An integral part of data science is the way that it is communicated. Just as people use language to communicate so do computers and translating what humans want into action for computers to complete can be difficult. That is why the language used when dealing with computers is an important decision to make.

Enter Advanced Scientific Data Format (ASDF), which is specifically used so that humans can easily grasp what the data means and translate it into useful information. ASDF is an interchange format that effectively changes the computer language of Python into something more accessible. While we do have a standard for how to make use of data, (the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS). The standard was created in the 1970s and is now limiting progress in the field. The purpose of ASDF is to overcome those limitations. For more information, click here.

DUIT is excited about what the future holds as the world of technology continues to advance and change.