e-Social Science

The concept of Social Informatics is sometimes introduced under alternative labels; such is e-Social Science. E-Science as it is known in the UK , or Cyberinfrastructure (NCeSS), examines uptake and use of emerging e-science technologies within the social sciences (NCeSS).Wikipedia defines E-science as a “computationally intensive science. It is also the type of science that is carried out in highly distributed network environments, or science that uses immense data sets that require grid computing. Examples of this include social simulations, particle physics, earth sciences and bio-informatics."

According to John Taylor, Director General of Research Councils, the  “e-Science is about global collaboration in key areas of science and the next generation of infrastructure that will enable it.”  In July of 2004, the ESRC created the National Centre  for e-Social Science with a remit to explore and develop ways in which e-Science research methods and infrastructure can be applied in the social sciences. (Procter, 2005) "The e-Social Science programme of the UKs Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is designed to promote the use by social scientists of Grid-enabled computing and data infrastructure, both in quantitative and qualitative research." (e-Social Science Symposium, 2004)