The central proposition of ‘data for good’ is that corporations should publicly share data sets derived from their business activities across various areas of the economy to improve and guide policymaking. Based on their study of contributors to the Big Data for Climate Action initiative, Maria Isabel Espinoza and Melissa Aronczyk, argue that whilst these initiatives may hold some public benefits, they also serve a political purpose to normalise and neutralise public concerns over mass data collection and subtly shift the focus on global challenges towards questions and solutions for which the answer is always more data collection

Aronczyk, Melissa

Espinoza, Maria Isabel

English

LSE Research Online

Who	benefits	from	data	for	good?The	central	proposition	of	‘data	for	good’	is	that	corporations	should	publicly	share	data	sets	derived	from	theirbusiness	activities	across	various	areas	of	the	economy	to	improve	and	guide	policymaking.	Based	on	their	study	ofcontributors	to	the	Big	Data	for	Climate	Action	initiative,	Maria	Isabel	Espinoza	and	Melissa	Aronczyk,	argue	thatwhilst	these	initiatives	may	hold	some	public	benefits,	they	also	serve	a	political	purpose	to	normalise	and	neutralisepublic	concerns	over	mass	data	collection	and	subtly	shift	the	focus	on	global	challenges	towards	questions	andsolutions	for	which	the	answer	is	always	more	data	collection.In	the	last	twenty	years,	vast	increases	in	data	volume,	processing	speed,	and	methods	to	collect	and	analysehuman	activities	have	resulted	in	datasets	with	previously	unknown	scales	of	precision	and	feedback	on	dynamic,real-time	interactions	between	people	and	their	environments.	The	proliferation	of	data’s	potential	to	provideinsights	into	people’s	behaviour	has	sparked	interest	among	private	actors	and	policymakers.	Big	data	is	nowpresented	as	a	strategic	asset	that	could	be	used	to	solve	the	world’s	most	pressing	social	problems,	fromhumanitarian	crises	to	climate	change.	Conversations	around	“data	for	good”	are	taking	place	in	a	number	ofcontexts,	from	United	Nations	climate	summits	to	urban	planning	events,	and	from	business	conferences	tohackathons.	But	our	recent	work	analysing	“big	data	for	climate	action”	initiatives	suggests	that	“data	for	good”	ismore	about	maintaining	the	political	conditions	that	enable	mass	data	collection	than	its	contributions	toenvironmental	sustainability.What	are	the	origins	of	the	“data	for	good”	movement?	What	is	at	stake	for	its	promoters?	What	are	theconsequences?Private	sector	participation	is	undeniably	essential	in	addressing	climate	crises	and	other	urgent	global	problems.But	before	embracing	the	“data	for	good”	movement,	we	must	ask	what	is	implied	by	this	formulation.	What	are	theorigins	of	the	“data	for	good”	movement?	What	is	at	stake	for	its	promoters?	What	are	the	consequences?	Associologists	who	study	the	impact	of	media	and	public	relations	on	the	framing	of	environmental	issues,	we	decidedto	address	these	questions	by	interviewing	“data	for	good”	experts,	attending	“data	for	good”	events,	and	reviewingmedia	coverage,	specialised	journals,	and	documents	published	by	intergovernmental	and	internationalorganizations	like	the	United	Nations	(UN)	and	the	World	Economic	Forum	(WEF).Impact of Social Sciences Blog: Who benefits from data for good? Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-04Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2021/05/04/who-benefits-from-data-for-good/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/The	“data	for	good”	movement	builds	upon	the	concept	of	“data	philanthropy,”	a	data	sharing	practice	by	whichbusinesses	“donate”	their	data	or	insights	generated	from	their	data	for	the	public	good.	The	concept	can	be	tracedback	to	the	2009	WEF	annual	meeting	in	Davos	where,	in	the	aftermath	of	the	global	financial	crisis,	economicdevelopment	experts	and	executives	introduced	the	idea	of	big	data	as	an	untapped	resource	for	development.	In	aseries	of	reports	published	between	2011	and	2014,	the	WEF	and	UN	Global	Pulse	—	the	UN’s	first	digital	research“incubator”	—	advanced	the	idea	of	data	philanthropy	as	an	important	step	towards	creating	a	“new	personal	dataecosystem”	where	big	data	creates	both	private	and	public	value.	The	reports	emphasized	the	importance	ofbalancing	the	needs	of	government,	private	industry,	and	individuals	to	make	use	of	big	data	as	a	source	ofinclusion	and	equality.	Tellingly,	they	hit	on	the	idea	that	the	public’s	fears	of	the	“misuse”	of	their	data	should	notovershadow	the	risk	of	the	“missed	uses”	of	data—that	is,	the	risk	to	companies	of	not	taking	advantage	of	bigdata’s	potential	to	create	social	value.UN	Global	Pulse,	a	key	supporter	of	the	“data	philanthropy”	model,	has	promoted	the	UN’s	SustainableDevelopment	Goals	(SDGs)	as	a	proving	ground	for	big	data	and	AI	applications.	It	has	launched	“data	challenges”and	other	events	to	showcase	the	model’s	potential.	One	example	is	the	Big	Data	for	Climate	Action	initiative(D4CA),	a	competition	in	which	companies	from	the	technology,	retail,	finance,	and	telecommunications	sectorsprovide	access	to	anonymized	datasets	to	teams	of	scientists	who	propose	ways	to	use	the	data	for	climate	action(SDG	#13).	While	some	interesting	proposals	came	out	of	the	competition,	the	focus	of	our	study	was	not	to	debatewhether	the	projects	showed	promise,	but	to	examine	what	was	at	stake	for	the	corporate	participants.	Besides,	theinitiative’s	limited	nature	(e.g.,	datasets	were	shared	for	only	4	months)	prevented	any	long-term	progress	towardsclimate	policy.Bloomberg’s	Data	for	Good	Exchange	2018.	|	Maria	I.	EspinozaImpact of Social Sciences Blog: Who benefits from data for good? Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-04Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2021/05/04/who-benefits-from-data-for-good/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/We	interviewed	the	promoters	and	“data	donors”	of	the	D4CA	campaigns,	asking	what	drew	them	to	the	event.Three	explanations	emerged.	First,	climate	change	was	presented	to	them	as	a	“neutral”	problem,	one	that	wouldhelp	showcase	the	power	of	big	data	without	seeming	“political”	(compared	to	data	applications	for	humanitarian	aidor	post-disaster	relief,	for	instance).	Climate	action	was	also	promoted	as	a	“safer”	context	for	business	by	leaningon	the	idea	that	data	mining	for	environmental	benefit	would	be	seen	as	less	intrusive	and	therefore	less	risky	froman	investment	standpoint.Second,	the	D4CA	initiative	linked	data	philanthropy	to	an	evidence-based	logic	that	sees	population	data	as	theonly	means	to	justify	policy	interventions.	It	framed	big	data	as	the	missing	link	in	the	policy-research	chain,attempting	to	steamroll	public	anxieties	over	the	growth	of	data	collection	—	from	the	perception	of	corporations	asdata	hoarders	and	unreliable	players,	to	end	users’	lack	of	control	over	their	personal	data.A	third	justification	for	the	D4CA	event	was	that	it	not	only	provided	the	opportunity	to	partner	with	the	UN	brand,but	also	positioned	the	private	sector’s	expertise	and	tools	as	urgently	needed	for	addressing	sustainability	goals.This	is	an	increasingly	popular	“crisis-as-opportunity”	or	“shared	value”	management	approach,	where	socialproblems	are	made	into	“productivity	drivers”	for	firms.	Becoming	a	data	donor	was	promoted	as	a	means	forcompanies	to	showcase	the	power	of	their	data	product,	maintain	data	collection	practices,	and	reach	new	markets.Becoming	a	data	donor	was	promoted	as	a	means	for	companies	to	showcase	the	power	of	their	dataproduct,	maintain	data	collection	practices,	and	reach	new	marketsThe	idea	that	private	sector	data	and	tools	can	be	used	for	the	public’s	benefit	is	not	new.	Since	at	least	the	1970s,corporations	have	“created	numbers”	to	show	off	their	sustainability	initiatives	(carbon	markets	are	a	recentexample	of	this).	However,	studies	have	shown	how	corporate	uses	of	data	for	environmental	sustainability	havemainly	focused	on	introducing	new	standards,	norms,	and	infrastructures	instead	of	actively	trying	to	adoptresponsible	practices.	These	efforts	can	be	better	understood	as	performative	techniques	that	promote	voluntary(i.e.,	independently	developed,	self-imposed,	and	non-binding)	regimes	of	environmental	management.	In	somecontexts,	these	voluntary	data-driven	initiatives	end	up	changing	what	counts	as	an	environmental	problem	andwhich	actors	are	best	equipped	to	solve	it.As	efforts	to	show	the	applicability	of	big	data	analytics	to	public	problems	continue	to	grow,	we	must	keep	in	mindthat	behind	the	enthusiasm	of	scientists	and	policy-makers	there	is	a	tech	sector	suffering	from	an	image	problem.The	“data	for	good”	formulation	was	envisioned	as	an	opportunity	to	maintain	current	data	collection	infrastructureand	keep	end-users	engaged	by	highlighting	the	social	value	that	data	philanthropy	can	produce.	Attempts	to	framebig	data	as	necessary	evidence	for	policy-making	can	shift	attention	away	from	well-founded	anxieties	over	currentdata	collection	practices	and	towards	justifications	of	more	data	collection.	Data	for	good	also	runs	the	risk	ofreducing	our	commitment	to	strong	and	lasting	climate	action.		While	big	data	that	contributes	towards	climateaction	is	welcome,	achieving	this	goal	ultimately	depends	on	our	political	will.	Climate	action	is	not	just	about	dataor	individual	empowerment;	it’s	about	collectively	committing	to	an	environmentally	safe	future.	This	post	draws	on	the	authors’	article,	Big	data	for	climate	action	or	climate	action	for	big	data?,	published	in	BigData	&	Society.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	authors,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Impact	Blog,	or	of	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics.Featured	image	Credit:	Science	in	HD	via	Unsplash,	In	text	image:	Bloomberg’s	Data	for	Good	Exchange	2018.	|Maria	I.	Espinoza.	Impact of Social Sciences Blog: Who benefits from data for good? Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-04Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2021/05/04/who-benefits-from-data-for-good/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/

Who benefits from data for good?

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Who benefits from data for good?

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