Irving: Big Data Can Save the Planet (or at least its inhabitants …

Yes, we have heard it all before.  A new information technology comes along and it is lauded as a sure fire tool for solving intractable societal problems.  We heard it with radio, computers and the Internet.  And now the buzz is all about Big Data.  The thing is, this time it could be true.

Big Data (the collection and analysis of large flows of information from a variety of sources) is experiencing explosive growth in the corporate and business sectors.  That growth has not been replicated, to date, in the development sector.  While companies increasingly are harnessing the power of Big Data and data analytics to improve profitably, decrease costs and enhance service to customers, the use of big data to solve societal problems and to improve life for underserved communities still is in nascent stages.

There is good reason for that as most organizations tasked with tackling societal issues lack access to computing technologies and infrastructure.  Too often they are dealing with faulty or diffuse data sets a        nd they often lack the human and technical resources needed to develop capacity in data collection and analysis.

But, despite these limitations we already have seen glimpses of the future of the use of data for development efforts.  In fact, some places are experiencing the future today.  Through the use of Big Data and mobile devices, PING, a start-up health care organization in Botswana, has reduced the response time for a malaria outbreak from 21 days to 3 days.  In Haiti, after the devastating earthquake, Digicell, a mobile carrier, assisted researchers from Columbia University and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute by using cellphone towers to map the migration path of cholera in hard hit areas.  In Northern India, Nexleaf Analytics is monitoring the adoption and use of cook stoves while also monitoring their impact on the environment.

Increased distribution and use of mobile telephones and tablets in the developed and developing world, the exponential growth of the Internet of Things, including low cost sensors and wearable devices and more widespread use of and decreases in cost for computing is driving and will continue to drive exponential increases in data available and useful for understanding and addressing societal problems.

We are still in early days of the Big Data era.  Many of the issues that might inhibit increased use of Big Data for pro-social purposes (privacy, security, availability and reliability of data sources) will have to be addressed for governmental and corporate purposes if we are going to continue to use big data effectively.  But in these early days of the Big Data era we have the opportunity to develop this emerging field with societal goals at the front of the equation rather than as an afterthought.   And, if corporations, governments, non-profits and foundations work in a coordinated fashion we can harness the power of Big Data to make significant inroads in areas such as health care, climate control, energy consumption, clean water and education.   If we get this right, we can reduce costs for and increase productivity of the organizations tackling the hardest issues on our planet.  Working together, we can leverage Big Data to solve the world’s biggest issues.

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Irving: Big Data Can Save the Planet (or at least its inhabitants …