Standardisation in the area of innovation and technological development, notably in the field of text and data mining : report from the Expert Group

Text and data mining (TDM) is an important technique for analysing and extracting new insights and knowledge from the exponentially increasing store of digital data ('Big Data'). TDM is useful to researchers of all kinds, from historians to medical experts, and its methods are relevant to organisations throughout the public and private sectors. TDM represents a significant economic opportunity for Europe. Prolific use of TDM would add tens of billions of Euros in value to the EU's aggregate GDP. At present, the use of TDM tools by researchers in Europe appears to be lower than in its main competitors. There is a serious risk that Europe's relative competitive position as a research location for the exploitation of digital data will deteriorate further, if steps are not taken to address the issues discussed in this report.