Building the Foundations for AI-Ready Science: Data, Knowledge and Digital Laboratories

Presentation by Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza on "Building the Foundations for AI-Ready Science: Data, Knowledge and Digital Laboratories" for the AstraZeneca's Predictive Science, Digitalisation & Automation (PSDA) group. Abstract: Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform scientific research, but AI is only as effective as the data and knowledge that underpin it. Despite living in an increasingly digital era, many organisations still face significant challenges in capturing, connecting, and reusing scientific information that is often scattered across paper lab notebooks, instruments, spreadsheets, documents, and disconnected systems. This talk will provide an accessible introduction to the foundations of scientific data management and explore how digitalisation can help transform fragmented scientific records into connected, reusable, and machine-readable research assets. Drawing on real world experiences from the University of Southampton and the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI), the presentation will explore practical approaches to ELN implementation, FAIR data practices, digital transformation in the laboratory, and the use of metadata and semantic technologies to improve data capture, reproducibility, discoverability, interoperability, and long-term reuse.