Developmental research on infants in Japan currently faces problems such as a declining population of infants, difficulties in training developmental researchers, and reproducibility issues in science. In response to these problems, we have developed the Baby’s Online Live Database (BOLD). BOLD is an open platform for conducting longitudinal studies to clarify causal relationships in development that many developmental researchers and parents want to understand. To embrace the parental perspective, we implemented a system to monitor opinions and requests from parents. We will also return the findings to society, thereby making BOLD a valuable resource for parents and researchers. This paper begins with an overview of the current challenges. We will then explain the BOLD approach to address these challenges. After comparing similar attempts overseas, we will conclude by presenting BOLD in its ongoing form.
