At the same time, we’re having some very serious debates about the acceptable use of data. For example, when is it ok to collect data or metadata (which traces the patterns of the information gathered) about the citizens of a country? And if a person is identified by mistake, whether for something as trivial as a parking offence or as serious as a no fly list, how do you challenge an algorithm and what’s the process for fixing the error? At the same time we’re struggling to keep some of our most sensitive data, both at a personal and government level, secure.
Data is coming under a new level of scrutiny. That’s a good thing, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the broader public debates what is acceptable. For me personally, I like to focus on some of the incredible things people are doing with data to make the world a better place.
One of my favorite groups using data for good is Crisis Text Line (CTL), which sends support text messages to teenagers in distress. The organization was started by Nancy Lublin (a fellow Young Global Leader) and inspired by the heart-breaking responses from teenagers totexting campaigns from by DoSomething.org, America’s largest non-profit for young people. As a separate entity, CTL’s has a single goal which is to get teenagers help through the technology medium they were most comfortable with: text messaging. Once a teenager texts in, trained counsellors reply to everything from suicide attempts, self-harm, to bullying
Another great use of datais DataKind. Led by Jake Porway and Craig Barowsky, it rallies data scientists from disparate places to help non-profits with some of their most pressing data challenges. They do this through a combination of Data Dives (think of these as like a data hackathon, open to everyone around the world) and their Data Corps team – in their words, “an elite group of data scientists dedicated to using data in the service of humanity.” These leading experts spend three to six months working pro bono. Their projects include getting better data about food pricing and consumption to help inform monetary policy and thwart a food crisis in Kenya, and figuring out how New York State should prune trees to stop them causing damage in a storm.
This kind of thing isn’t just restricted to the non-profit space. Companies like Jawbone (founded by a fellow 2014 Young Global Leader, Hosain Rahman) are using data in innovative ways to help improve your health. Their data have already yielded interesting trends onsleeping patterns. And this is just the beginning as they start to apply their insights to help personalize advice to improve your health.