Book contents
- Data, Systems, and Society
- Reviews
- Data, Systems, and Society
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 The Pitfalls, Promises, and Challenges of Data
- 2 A Confluence of Fields
- 3 Who – and What – Should Drive Decision-Making?
- 4 A Transdiscipline Is Born
- 5 Complexity versus Relevance
- 6 The Care and Feeding of a New Discipline at MIT
- 7 People, Programs, and Research
- 8 Personal Reflections on the Journey
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - A Transdiscipline Is Born
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 March 2025
- Data, Systems, and Society
- Reviews
- Data, Systems, and Society
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 The Pitfalls, Promises, and Challenges of Data
- 2 A Confluence of Fields
- 3 Who – and What – Should Drive Decision-Making?
- 4 A Transdiscipline Is Born
- 5 Complexity versus Relevance
- 6 The Care and Feeding of a New Discipline at MIT
- 7 People, Programs, and Research
- 8 Personal Reflections on the Journey
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter introduces Data, Systems, and Society (DSS), a new transdiscipline bridging statistics, information and decision systems, and social and institutional behavior. It emphasizes the value of transdisciplinarity over multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity and advocates for integrating DSS across domains where data and systems are pivotal (e.g., engineering, sciences, social sciences, and management). The chapter concludes by illustrating how DSS training has been instrumental in tackling different facets of the COVID-19 pandemic, including testing, vaccination strategies, and evaluating regional policies.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Data, Systems, and SocietyHarnessing AI for Societal Good, pp. 57 - 72Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025