10 YEARS IN REVIEW: A LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTOR Finding appropriate metrics to summarize a decade of work by and at Data-Pop Alliance is not easy. It could be the number of projects completed (over 100), of our publications (92), of countries where we have worked (over 30), or partners we have collaborated with (countless). It could also be our … Read More
Links We Like: A Compilation of 40 Editions
Links We Like Turns 40! Technically, Links We Like (LWL) has been around for seven years, and in that time we have produced 40 editions, all of which are compiled here in a downloadable PDF form. LWL began in 2015 as a way for us to take stock of the debates and conversations around the data landscape, as well as … Read More
Informe Nacional Voluntario (INV) Guinea Ecuatorial 2022
Guinea Ecuatorial adoptó la Agenda 2030 de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) con el objetivo de erradicar la pobreza, proteger el planeta y así facilitar que todas las personas vivan en paz y prosperidad, por un lado, y, por otro lado, para movilizar los medios y recursos necesarios para su implementación mediante alianzas y planes inclusivos. Con base a … Read More
Replicating Gender Bias from Above: Earth Observation, Machine Learning and SDG 5
With the increased application of Earth Observation (EO) data, combined with the higher spatial and temporal granularity of data and the potential benefits of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, ethical concerns around EO have become more salient. In this science-policy brief, we examine the effects of EO data collected without a gender-inclusive perspective, and how that raw data (or processed by … Read More
Overview and Outlook 2021-2023
Even for the most optimistic, any hopes that 2021 and the first half of 2022 would constitute a decisive upward inflection from recent and old trends should, by now, unfortunately have been put to rest. The past year has been generally more of the same, or worse, as pre-existing fissures and excesses have continued to be exposed and often exacerbated: … Read More
Estudio Regional en Big Data para el Desarrollo Sostenible en Latinoamérica y el Caribe
Es innegable que el mundo vive actualmente en una explosión de datos. Con el uso expandido de teléfonos celulares, computadoras, y otras tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC), la velocidad y frecuencia con la que datos son producidos desde hace un par de décadas han incrementado exponencialmente. La información derivada de estos nuevos procesos generadores de datos es lo … Read More
Overview and Outlook 2020-2022
Last year exposed and exacerbated pre-existing fault lines that had been previously ignored or minimised by those who claimed that 2019 was “the best year in history” only weeks before the pandemic shredded this illusion. Data exposed systemic inequities and structural imbalances when it showed that COVID-19 could severely affect many—even while infecting few—in the poorest regions because of its … Read More
Overview and Outlook: 2019-2020
Data-Pop Alliance was born 7 years ago out of the recognition that the defining element of the 21st century would be data. Since, phrases such as ”Big Data” and “Data Revolution” have been largely replaced by “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and “Artificial Intelligence”, but the key question remain essentially the same: how can data-infused systems and societies be shaped to foster … Read More
EmpoderaData: Data literacy assessment and Sustainable Development Goals data gaps
EmpoderaData builds upon the success of the Q-Step paid internship programme from the University of Manchester. The project aims to promote a virtuous cycle of social transformation by fostering data literacy. The purpose of this report is threefold: (1) understand the unmet needs in terms of data literacy skills, (2) recognize to what extent might a data literacy capacity building … Read More
Algorithmic accountability – Applying the concept to different country contexts
Drawing from interviews with global experts, topic workshops and content research, this scoping paper aims to provide the reader with an understanding of algorithmic decision-making processes and the challenges they pose to our existing understanding of accountability across different contexts. It offers a map of existing technical and governance mechanisms for both identifying and addressing algorithmic harms and bias, as … Read More
Fair, Transparent and Accountable Algorithmic Decision-making Processes
The combination of increased availability of large amounts of fine-grained human behavioral data and advances in machine learning is presiding over a growing reliance on algorithms to address complex societal problems. Algorithmic decision-making processes might lead to more objective and thus potentially fairer decisions than those made by humans who may be influenced by greed, prejudice, fatigue, or hunger. However, … Read More
Opportunities and Requirements for Leveraging Big Data for Official Statistics and the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America
Este documento se realizó en el marco de un proyecto apoyado por el Banco Mundial e implementado por Data-Pop Alliance en asociación con el Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística de Colombia – DANE. Data-Pop Alliance es una coalición sobre Big Data y el desarrollo creada conjuntamente por la Iniciativa Humanitaria de Harvard, el MIT Media Lab y el Instituto de … Read More
Applications and Implications of Big Data for Demo-Economic Analysis:The Case of Call-Detail Records
This dissertation analyzes and discusses various applications and implications of BigData for demo-economic analysis, focusing on the analysis of cell-phone data collected by telecommunication operators for billing purposes, commonly referred to as call-detail records, or CDRs, which include the time and duration of calls, the location of the emitter and receiver, etc. This is done by placing the resulting opportunities … Read More
Beyond Data Literacy: Reinventing Community Engagement and Empowerment in the Age of Data
This paper attempts to delineate the broad contours of “data literacy” through analysis of its history, definition, expectations, application, and promotion. The paper thus defines “data literacy” as “the desire and ability to constructively engage in society through and about data” and argues that promotion of “data literacy” should be via and for social inclusion.
Big Data and Development: An Overview
This paper describes the fundamental nature of Big Data as an ecosystem and how it engages with society. Although Big Data has promising applications to real-world problems, it is met with warnings and risks–the most severe being risk to individual privacy, identity and security. In response to these challenges and risks, the paper explores the future of Big Data and … Read More
Official Statistics, Big Data, and Human Development
This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing and future debate about the relationships between Big Data, official statistics and development. This paper argues that Big Data needs to be seen as an entirely new ecosystem comprising new data, new tools and methods, and new actors motivated by their own incentives. The emergence of this new ecosystem provides both a … Read More
Big Data & SDGs Note for Global Sustainable Development Report
This paper focuses on the intersection of Big Data and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the spectrum of ways and channels through which Big Data as an entirely new ecosystem could impact—contribute to or hamper—human progress as called for and measured by the SDGs. Applications of Big Data to SDGs have the potential to advocate for causes, shape incentives and … Read More