R&D Plan-Informatics in the era of big data

The focus on R&D planning is gaining importance due to the ever increasing investments made in the sector as realisation has dawned upon the decision makers that investments are bound to generate benefits at a later stage. For better R&D planning, it is imperative that tools and mechanisms, particularly with the explosion of data due to the advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT), need to be developed and adopted, systematically. This paper aims to introduce Plan-Informatics approach to R&D planning that would help a nation in devising a framework for evidence based planning in R&D .The proposed Plan-Informatics approach would be more suitable in the era of big data and data centric `fourth paradigm' of scientific discovery. The Plan-Informatics will capture, accurate, analyse and visualise the big data and provide an approach towards holistic decision making and action for a long-term R&D plan of a nation.The paper also attempts to develop a Plan-Informatics framework for government sector to better utilise big data and near to real time data for effective decision making.

I. Introduction

Research & Development (R&D) is a time consuming process that involves huge investments, highly skilled human resources, scientific & physical infrastructure and knowledge that can create huge amounts of data, information & knowledge through complex processes that span research, design, development and patenting. R&D in the recent past has been generating and using data assets globally and is migrating to the fourth paradigm of research [1] which is 'data intensive R&D’ due to the advancement in Information Communication Technology (ICT). In the fourth paradigm of R&D each and every data generated at various levels are captured, curated, managed and analysed for the desired output. These data captured has the potential to strengthen decision making process and to identify the desired research direction, thereby providing a qualitative mechanism of decision making which was not available previously.