igqie14 analytics and ethics 20141107

Alan D. Duncan http://blogs.gartner.com/alan-duncan/ Tw: @Alan_D_Duncan E: [email protected]

Business Analytics | Information Strategy | Data Governance | Better Business Outcomes

Sponsored by Mark Twain

Data, Analytics & Ethics: finding the creepy line

“Get your facts

first, then you can

distort them as

you please.”



A bit about me....

• NEW! Research Director, Gartner

• Former advisory board member, QFire Software

• 22 years Information Strategy, Data Governance,

Analytics & Business Consulting

– Director of Data Governance at UNSW

– EDS, KPMG, CPW, Acuma, Pelion, SMS

– Scottish Power, United Distillers, O2, Astra Zeneca,

Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, Riyad Bank

– Commonwealth Bank, NSW Roads & Maritime

Services, Centrelink, OATSIH, NSW Family &

Community Services, CASA, AMSA, FaHCSIA, DAFF,

Navy…

• Information-Management.com “Top 12 on Twitter”

• Best supporting Actor, 2005 Barnet Drama Festival

• See me this week in “Boudicca” at Verulamium…



Key issues

• Analytic value & Data Quality

• Analytic risks & The Creepy Line

• Suggested actions & final thoughts



Analytic Value & Data Quality,

Sponsored by Thomas Edison

“The value of an idea

lies in the using of it.”



Pay a visit to Whitefellah Burrows…

• 34% of organisations derive greater

business value from “Big Data” once

unstructured data types are addressed.1

• Unstructured data represents 90% of all

real-time data being created today.2

• 59% of organisations say data quality

problems are the biggest barrier to

successful analytics initiatives.3

• 80% of the effort involved in dealing with

data is cleaning it.3

• 1 “What Works in Big Data”, The Data Warehouse Institute,

2014.

• 2 “2011 CMO Study”, IBM Institute of Business Value, 2011.

• 3 “2014 Analytics, BI and Information Management Survey”,

Information Week, November 2013.

• 4 “Planning for Big Data: A CIO’s Handbook”, O’Reilly Media,

2012.



…and don’t fall in!

• Do data professionals have a

special ethical

responsibility?

• Is there such a thing as

"good analytics" and "bad

analytics?"

• How can you organize a

structured ethical debate?

• What happens if you ignore

ethical debate?

• Where do you stand?



The “Creepy Line”,

Sponsored by Colin Powell

“Experts often possess

more data than

judgement.”



The Creepy line

• The creepy line is real

• The creepy line is fuzzy

• The creepy line is near

• There is no such thing as an “absolute right to

privacy”



• Risk 1: Anonymization and Data Masking

Could be Impossible

• Risk 2: Protecting People From

Themselves

• Risk 3: It's Easy to Mistake Patterns for

Reality

• Risk 4: The Data Becomes Reality Itself

• Risk 5: Don't Worry About Bad People;

Worry About the Ignorant Ones

Avoiding “creepy” ain’t so easy



Digital & Analytic Ethics,

Sponsored by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“Data! Data! Data! I can’t

make bricks without clay!”(Sherlock Holmes,

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches)



Suggested Actions

• First, Get the Basics Right

• Information Governance Needs To Grow Up

• Connect Business Value & Consumer Value

• Be Sensitive to Culture & Values

• Understand the Origin of Data

• Realize That There Is no Such Thing as

"Being Objective" in Analytics



Analytic Ethics, sponsored by the Anangu people of Uluru Kata Tjuta

“Government-aku Law nyiringka ngarapai. Ananguku Law katangka munu kurunta

ngarapai. Nganana Tjukurpa nyiringka tjunkupai wiya. Tjukurpa panaya tjamulu,

mamalu, ngunytjulu nganananya ungu, kurunta munu katangka kanyintjaku.”

“Government law is written on paper. Anangu carry our law in our heads and in our

souls. We don't put our Law onto paper. It was given to us by our grandfathers and

grandmothers, out fathers and mothers, to hold into in our heads and in our hearts.”



Suggested Resources

• Maverick* Research: Ethics Are at the Center of the Nexus of

Forces (G00256392)

• Privacy and Ethical Concerns Can Make Big Data Analytics a

Big Risk Too (G00249134)

• Big Data Analytics Requires An Ethical Code of Conduct

(G0026399)

• Digital Ethics, or How to Not Mess Up With Technology

(G00269636)

• Also:

• http://informationaction.blogspot.co.uk/p/favourite-articles.html

http://informationaction.blogspot.co.uk/p/favourite-articles.html



Intellectual curiosity

Skeptical scrutiny

Critical thinkinghttp://www.informationaction.blogspot.com.au/

http://blogs.gartner.com/alan-duncan/

@Alan_D_Duncan

http://www.linkedin.com/in/alandduncan

http://www.informationaction.blogspot.com.au/

http://blogs.gartner.com/alan-duncan/

igqie14 analytics and ethics 20141107

Data & Analytics

big data

information data management

realtime data

better data quality

data warehouse institute

data quality problems

unstructured data types

duncan e