These 4 research papers were developed in collaboration with and funded by the Agence française de développement (AFD) between 2016 and 2019 under a joint program with Data-Pop Alliance and research partners. The aim was to strengthen the evidence-base for leveraging Big Data to address global development challenges in local contexts. Individually, the papers show specific cases and examples of how computational analysis of behavioral data, combined with other datasets, can paint a finer-grained, more complex and dynamic picture of human reality than ‘traditional’ data allows, while also calling for prudence when attempting to draw system-wide conclusions on the basis of their findings. Collectively, they sketch the contours of a world where public decisions, in the form of policies and programs, may someday be designed, implemented and evaluated using the best available data and approaches.

Paper 1: Socio-Physical Vulnerability To Flooding In Senegal: An Exploratory Analysis With New Data & Google Earth Engine

Paper 2: Characterizing and Analyzing Urban Dynamics In Bogota

Paper 3: Understanding The Relationship Between Short and Long Term Mobility 

Paper 4: The Impact of Crime Shocks Across Gender and Socioeconomic Groups: A Large-scale Mapping Of Behavioral Disruption