Digital Science launched: closing the gap between science and technology?

Two weeks ago Eva Amsen wrote in a thoughtful blog post:

There’s a gap between science and technology, and it’s growing.

Eva argues that – contrary to popular belief – there is actually a divide between science and technology. Scientists are on average not really comfortable using technology, and many computing tools aimed for scientists really miss the point of what scientists really care about.

Two days later, on December 7, Digital Science, a new division of Macmillan Publishing launched. From the press release:

Digital Science will focus on providing world-class software tools and services to scientists, managers and funders with the ultimate aim of making research more productive through the use of technology.

Initial products include the chemical text-mining tool SureChem Portal, the laboratory research management system BioData and the research information system Symplectic Elements. You might see some familiar faces when you look at the Digital Science team pictures.

As a big fan of using technology for science I am looking forward to what Digital Science will do in the coming months. I am particularly interested in their answer to the questions asked by Eva. Have they found a better way to understand what technologies scientists really want? Or are tools for digital science something that the majority of scientists don’t really care about?

Cameron Neylon: Macmillan do interesting stuff
Benjamin Good: Digital Science launches
John Dupuis: Open Science Digital Computation Research