2026-05-19 –, Showroom
Have you heard about synthetic data and its privacy potential, but aren’t sure where to begin – or do the technical hurdles, privacy concerns and unanswered questions hold you back?
In this open discussion, you'll dig into the questions surrounding synthetic data: what it is, where it's already being used in research, and — just as importantly — what's stopping more people from using it. Through quick polls and open conversation, your experiences and questions will drive the discussion. After all, it's your questions and hesitations that will help us understand what still needs answering before researchers and organizations can confidently reach for synthetic data.
After this session, you will have:
• Sharpened your intuition for what synthetic data actually is (and what it isn't)
• Explored technical, privacy, and ethical challenges together
• Contributed to a shared picture of what it would actually take to make synthetic data work in your research context
Synthetic data can be a confusing topic at times, given the many concerns (technical, privacy, legal) that can be in play. But with an interactive discussion with attendees, using fun polls, we will get further and foster an environment where generating synthetic data is de-mystified.
This session is relevant for anyone working with or around research data — researchers across disciplines who deal with sensitive or restricted datasets, data managers, research software engineers, privacy officers, and research supporters. No prior knowledge of synthetic data is needed; curiosity is enough. We particularly welcome people who have been wondering about synthetic data but haven't known where to start, as well as those who have already experimented with it and want to exchange experiences.
What is the key take away of your session?:A clearer picture of what synthetic data is, where it stands in research, and what questions still need answering before it becomes standard practice.
As part of 4TU Research Data team at TU Delft, I am coordinating the TDCC-NES funded Digital Capacity for NES project building Carpentries-based digital training capacity across the Dutch research landscape. I am also a researcher for the TDCC-SSH project on Synthetic Data on the legal, privacy and ethical aspects of using synthetic data in SSH research.