“We do not like to think of ourselves as bits and bytes. But if we don’t, we leave it to others to do it for us.” These were the words of philosophy professor Colin Koopman that got us thinking about doing a series on “big data”.
Professor Koopman has been exploring a new framework he calls “infopolitics” to help us understand how big data affects all of us, we asked him five questions.
“Big data” is a buzzword these days. Data technology can help people working in development to plan better programmes that reach more people. But it also conjures up worrying scenarios about privacy and the ability to target individuals.
How do we transform big data into smaller, bite-sized pieces? This week, Daily Development talks to some of the leaders and thinkers behind big data to get the conversation going—but first, what is big data, and why all the buzz?
In formulating the post-2015 development agenda, measuring the MDGs’ successes – and identifying where progress has lagged – is critically important.
Women’s rights are human rights – and empowering women and girls isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense. Today, women perform the bulk of childrearing and agricultural labor, yet they are usually paid less than men and have far fewer leadership opportunities.
As a film-maker, I know how gratifying it can be when your film receives four-star reviews and wins prestigious awards. But for film-makers who are interested in creating a piece of art that also inspires change, how can we measure the impact of our work beyond the industry, in the real world?
UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening often refers to a ‘smarter approach to aid’ – a recent example can be found in her speech to the London Stock Exchange at the beginning of the year, about which I have previously blogged.
The winter 2014 installment of the Open Society Foundations’ documentary photography exhibition series comes at a time when photography is becoming a regular mode of information sharing for many throughout the world.
This paper analyses emerging data from the United Nations' MY World survey of people’s priorities for the future and how they have voted on governance-related issues.