Establishing the Data Computing Center
The establishment of the Data Computing Center aims at providing research staff of the College of Social Sciences robust computing systems and access to confidential data for empirical research. In recent years, due to the development of computing technology and econometrics, models of many industries have become more complex, and the demand for processing large amounts of data has increased rapidly. The Center provides a computing host that allows multiple, simultaneous users to support our research staff with the computing capacity required for empirical research.
Data Collection, Organization, and Update
Members of the research team of the Center focuses on areas inclusive of microeconomics, macroeconomics, industrial economy, financial economy, economic development and economic history. The collection, procurement and updating of related databases continue to contribute to long-term, fruitful research results of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and further provide teachers and students with relevant statistical software and research methods. Current working areas include:
- Taiwan's Historical Economic Statistics: the Center cooperates with the Taiwan Institutions and Economic History Association, with the aim of collecting and organizing pre-Japanese-occupation historical data for researchers.
- Macroeconomics data collection and promotion: the center will cooperate with the Taiwan Economic Data Center to promote the use of the AREMOS database and further collate more relevant data.
- Applied microeconomics data collection, such as ones related to health, industry, and trade: the Center aims at collecting all data related to health, industry, and trade that were acquired by the Faculty of the College of Social Sciences, mainly the Department of Economics, to assist junior professors in familiarizing themselves with existing research resources.
Academic Exchanges and Cultivation of Talent
We will cooperate with various research institutes to organize seminars related to data collection and usage, such as big data analyzing methods. The Center has organized the 2017 Annual Meeting jointly with the Taiwan Institutions and Economic History Association, and is also preparing to collaborate with the Taiwan Economic Data Center to host seminars regarding introduction to the usage of the macroeconomics database AREMOS, how to use the data for calibration and simulation, introduction to the current macroeconomy, and etcetera.
We will also host small workshops, as well as lectures on statistical softwares (such as R, Stata, and GIS), and actively promote undergraduate and graduate students to participate in empirical research to further cultivate talented individuals in economics. We also aim at establishing the Economic Statistics Program and Economic Statistics Study Camp to enhance students’ interest in learning, and hence deepen their professional knowledge in economics-related research fields.