big data digital humanitarianism lightning talk
DESCRIPTION
Big Data and Digital Humanitarianism are becoming intertwined in ways that *necessitate* we as geographers ask new questions. This is a 5-minute lightning talk I gave at the 2014 AAG, as part of the series of Big Data lightning talks organized by Andy Shears, Joe Eckert, and Jim Thatcher.TRANSCRIPT
Big data digital humanitarianism
Ryan Burns
University of Washington
@burnsr77
http://burnsr77.github.io
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
Big
Data
humanitarianism new Q‟s about
how technologies
impact our world
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
Standby Task Force
Digital Humanitarian Network
Humanity Road
HumanitarianOpenStreetMap
Network
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
“Can Big Data from Cell
Phones Prevent Conflict?”
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
Who is left out?
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
immediacy of
humanitarian
crises
What kinds of knowledgepolitics constitute this space?
What has enabled this
shift?
What about
„small‟ data?
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
knowledge politics
how is legitimacy claimed?
how is meaning constructed?
political economyhow is value produced?
why is the private sector involved?
needshow are needs collected?
how are needs represented?
When it comes to Big Data in digital humanitarianism…
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
knowledge politics
data models, design negotiations, digital spaces
political economyresponsibilization
philanthro-capitalism
neither “public” nor “private”
must be „tamed‟ – abstracted, condensed, categorized
beyond the „map‟ artifact
needs
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
For humanitarianism, Big Data =
shifted practices,
a new epistemology, and
new social relations
Outside my dissertation work…
GeoJournal special issue
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
“small data”
Limits of crisis data
theorizing space
development policy
surveillance
Public scholarship and policy work
Ryan Burns University of Washingtonhttp://burnsr77.github.io
UN OCHA-funded project
conducting research of “value” to the community
http://burnsr77.github.io/EvaluatingImpact
develop an impact evaluation framework
communicating to diverse audiences