The National Scientific Agenda

In the Netherlands, a coalition of Universities, Universities of “Applied Sciences,” medical centres, the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences and other stakeholders, translated 12,000 questions, which were collected through public consultation, into the National Scientific Agenda . Its mission is to guide researchers to address relevant social and economic challenges.  

Through their projects, the researchers at the DSSC engage directly with this programme and particularly with questions such as:

• What are the consequences of the new technologies and big data for the government and the rule of law?

• Will digitization preserve our heritage?

• Big Data: can we use large datasets and their collection to achieve values, generate insights and receive answers?

• Can we develop a language technology in which our computers (smartphones, tablets) can communicate with us?

• How can we connect “things” (hardware) with each other at any time and anywhere and increase further the processors’ computing speed, with lower energy consumption?

• How can we build and maintain software that will still work tomorrow?

• What follows to the electronic silicon era: beyond Moore?

• How can we get a grip on the unpredictability of complex networks and chaotic systems?

• How can we bridge different scales in the modeling of dynamic systems, such as currents of/in liquids and gases?

• How can we preserve our energy supply and keep it affordable and reliable?

• How can we transition to fully sustainable energy supply?

• How can we save, convert and transport energy in a sustainable fashion?

• Smart Industry - how can we make our factories smarter?

• Can we find the balance between the freedom of information and privacy?

• How can we warrant our digital security?

• How can big data and technological innovation )e-health) contribute to health care?

• How will the manufacturing-, service-, and maintenance industry transform and which technological innovations make that possible?

• How do galaxies, stars and planets come into existence and evolve?

• How can we understand more about the universe and explore our solar system with the help of spaceships and telescopes?

• How does our brain process and record information and, especially, what is the role of the plasticity and networks at various levels (micro- and macroscopic)?

We are also interested in the big data and complexity implications of questions such as:

• How does the climate change, including extreme weather conditions, and what are the consequences?

• How will knowledge of genetics play a role in the understanding, screening and therapy of rare diseases?

• How can we develop minimally-invasive techniques and interventions for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of patients?

• What will the quantum computer and quantum internet signify for us?

• What are the origins, history and future of the universe?

• What is the true nature of gravity, space and time and what can you learn, for example, about the black holes?