Launch of 'DAS Starter Program': Using Data for the Future

DAS LAB, a co-creation collective promoted by Toyota Coniq Corp. (TQ), has launched the 'DAS Starter Program,' a one-day workshop designed to let participants experience the 'DAS (Data Art & Science)' approach, which conceptualizes the 'future we want' from the perspectives of data science and art to drive social implementation.

DAS LAB has been practicing the use of data not merely as an object of analysis, but as clues for people and communities to think about the future in diverse fields such as water environments, education, local culture, food, and finance, connecting it to social dialogue and new value creation.

This program was developed jointly with Ars Electronica Futurelab, a world-renowned cultural institution in Linz, Austria, so that anyone can experience and understand the thinking and processes behind these practices in a short time.

For details on the DAS Starter Program, please visit the special page.

■ Background
While data utilization is spreading across many companies, it often feels centered on operational efficiency or improving the status quo. In an era of high uncertainty, we need the power to conceptualize and choose our own future. We believe data can be used not only to read the 'past' or 'present' but also to conceptualize the 'future' we want.

■ What is DAS?
DAS (Data Art & Science) is an approach that re-envisions data by combining data science with an artistic perspective. Instead of simply analyzing data, it involves:
- Re-questioning the meaning and premise of data from the perspectives of 'who is it for' and 'what is it for.'
- Converting data into 'tangible expressions.'
Through these two methods, data is opened up to be intuitively understood, generating dialogue and connecting it to steps toward the future.

■ About the DAS Starter Program
The 'DAS Starter Program' is an intensive workshop where participants can experience in one day the DAS approach that DAS LAB has practiced in various fields. Participants experience the process of thinking and engaging in dialogue about the future while re-envisioning data not just as numbers, but as something that can be 'felt.'

The program consists of four elements:
- Inspiration: Gain new perspectives through DAS case studies.
- Lecture: Understand the thinking and methodology of DAS.
- Workshop: Experience two workshops to 'touch the future.'
- Dialogue: Deepen awareness through dialogue.
The workshops include 'BRIDGE 2040,' a role-playing session for thinking from a future perspective, and 'TEMPO,' where participants manually convert data into dynamic expressions, helping them break out of conventional thinking patterns.

■ Expected Benefits
Through this program, participants can encounter perspectives and skills such as:
- Perspectives to pose and structure questions.
- Sensations to re-envision data from numbers into meaning.
- Dialogue to concretely grasp and share the future with others.
- Perspectives to conceptualize the future by connecting different positions and values.
By doing so, the program aims to trigger new perspectives and dialogues in corporate future strategy and new business conceptualization.

Message from Joint Development Partner:
Hideaki Ogawa, Artistic Director, Ars Electronica Futurelab
The future is not something to wait for; it is something to create. We make decisions every day surrounded by vast amounts of data. However, data itself does not determine the future. Data Art & Science (DAS) is an approach that treats data not as mere information but as a resource for envisioning the future and creating value, utilizing it creatively. Through this program, participants will learn this approach experientially through inspiration, lectures, and workshops, fostering the power of thought and dialogue to derive new possibilities from data.

■ Overview
- Duration: 1 day (approx. 6-7 hours)
- Capacity: 20-25 people
- Venue: Japan (Tokyo)

■ Future Developments
DAS LAB will roll out this program to companies, local governments, and educational institutions, expanding the practice of future conceptualization in communities and society.