Big data for social good
Smartphones are reaching critical mass, and people and devices are constantly generating data. Whether it is streaming a video, playing the latest game or making in-app purchases, user activity generates data about people’s needs and preferences, and the quality of their experiences. In a new white paper, Ericsson estimates that by 2018 each device will generate around 2GB of data per month.
The industry uses this data for several reasons, including customer segmentation, optimizing network utilization and reliability, recommending attractive offers to consumers, and designing competitive offers, prices and packages – all of which improve the user experience.
But big data also opens up vast possibilities to address sustainable development.
Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a panel about the use of big data for social good, along with Robert Kirkpatrick of UN Global Pulse and Carlo Ratti of MIT SENSEable Lab. The use of big data is amazing. Carlo discussed his work with tracing trash in cities, while Robert talked about securing immunizations in Indonesia. It is clear that big data is already helping us improve and save lives, and will do so even more in the future.
But the use of big data in turn invokes challenges in the areas of trust and responsibility.
Our own consumer research focused on online privacy, security and surveillance, recently conducted in six countries – Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, Sweden, the US and Pakistan (representing different levels of internet penetration and different geographical regions) – reveals some interesting facts.
Trust concerns are high, and directly affect online behavior
• A majority of people are concerned about privacy (56 percent), personal security (70 percent) and surveillance online (59 percent)
• 90 percent say their concerns have a direct effect on their online behavior
• 70 percent felt hesitant towards expressing opinions even though they wanted to.
However, being aware of the risks does not reduce internet activity. Only 4 percent said that privacy, security and surveillance issues reduce their use of the internet. Internet inclusion around the planet continues to grow steadily and exponentially.
The benefits of big data are just too great. In the future, I think it will be crucial to work within multi-stakeholder frameworks to help consumers move from awareness of risks to a better understanding of how ICT works – through transparency and involvement – in order to increase their sense of safety and trust.
We need to find ways to anonymize personal data, to aggregate it, and provide ways for consumers to opt in or opt out, to decide what data is shared and with whom, in a transparent manner. So that all the potential of big data can be turned into true social good.
Written by Elaine Weidman-Grunewald
Elaine Weidman Grunewald is Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson. She joined Ericsson in 1998, and she is responsible for a number of public private partnerships which explore the use of Technology for Good, i.e. the use Ericsson’s core technology to solve some of the world’s most compelling challenges and help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals , including the Millennium villages, Connect to Learn, and Refugees United. She is a leading advocate of Technology for Good and represents Ericsson in a number of external fora including the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and the United Nations Global Compact.
