Trends, techniques, testing, tribulations, tasks, trajectories: the saga of data in the evolution of geotechnical design

Modern engineering design codes have evolved from deterministic to non-deterministic to formats which account explicitly for uncertainties in geotechnical systems. Though non-deterministic approaches have widely proved to be instrumental in cost-performance optimization, they are still not well understood and implemented by geotechnical researchers and practitioners. The main difficulties encountered in the transition to the non-deterministic paradigm may be related to a sub-optimal approach to data acquisition and processing for uncertainty modelling. This is paradoxical given the momentous digital revolution which is ongoing worldwide and unprecedented available computational power. This extended abstract addresses synthetically the role of data in approaching and conducting best-practice non-deterministic design, providing a set of conceptual and operational motivations to promote a more data-centric approach to geotechnical practice. Cultural and operational factors which prevent the full exploitation of non-deterministic design potential are discussed.