At this time of the year, there is no shortage of predictions of what lies ahead. Typing “year ahead 2022” into your web browser alone yields 885 million results - more than one for every ten people on the planet. And for big data enthusiasts, limiting the search terms to “year ahead,” “big data,” and “2022” returns 300,000+ articles covering data trends, top tech predictions, and what we can expect from big data analytics. The results are spottier, however, when we search for what’s in store for national data ecosystems and the implications for sustainable development. Yet, efficient national data ecosystems and better use of data are critical to helping organizations from the public sector, private sector, and civil society achieve better outcomes, particularly in sustainable development. TReNDS’ Director, Grant Cameron, reflects on how these types of organizations will evolve in their use of data in the year ahead, what it means for the national and global data ecosystems, and how these changes will contribute to sustainable development.
Read MoreDespite the recent news of successful COVID-19 vaccine trials, the end of the pandemic still seems a long way off. The data community, however, should be thinking ahead to the end of this crisis, when unique data demands will no longer apply. In this Op-ed, Hayden Dahmm explores how sunset clauses and provisions can be used to ensure that surveillance measures are wound down responsibly at the end of the pandemic.
Read MoreAllowing data, particularly big data, to be shared between the public and private sectors has significant benefits. These include improved public services, transparency and citizen engagement – not to mention the potential for driving economic opportunities and business innovation. And the private sector has an important role to play, not only in leveraging the value of government open data, but in making some of its own data open or available to the public sector through collaboration. Many of these data-driven public-private partnerships have already proven successful. For instance, Uber released their data on traffic to aid transportation planners and city officials; Statistics Canada has partnered with smart meter companies to access electricity consumption data to better understand consumption patterns; and the telecommunications company, Airtel, shared data with the World Health Organization to help combat tuberculosis in India…Yet with great potential comes great risk. Big data sharing raises pressing questions about security, privacy and consent. These questions have become even more salient in recent years, as we’ve learned more about how our data has been handled by technology companies and others.
Read MoreJonathan Glennie asks, Can we counter the data counter-revolution? From surveillance to data governance, he examines the delicate balance struck between data and power.
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