Ethics of Big Data

The Ethics of a Data-Driven Society (2016-17)

In 2015-16 the Ethics of Big Data Faculty Research Group held a number of seminars and workshops addressing the ethics and politics of 'doing' big data, with an emphasis on the practice of big data research and technology, and the ethical issues raised in the course of the research. In 2016-17 we will address wider questions of The Ethics of a Data Driven Society.

Themes:

Big Data and the Future of Work

In Michaelmas Term (2016) we will explore how Big Data is reshaping the worlds of work, production and employment. We will analyse whether the promise of 'on-demand' production and automated logistics drives the agenda for the 'big data' economy; explore the expanding role of the algorithms in task allocation and performance management for the quantified workplace as well as the impact of device proliferation, ubiquitous connectivity and the rise of social media on surveillance and profiling of employees.

Big Data and the Environment

In Lent Term the focus will be on Environment, specifically issues around environmental sustainability of data infrastructures, and the use of data in managing sustainability, examining how both aspects feed into the discussions of 'ethics' in a data driven world. We will look at the use of data in conservation, and also at energy consumption of data infrastructures, energy efficient data centres, broader issues of sustainability (including resource use, cooling, and recycling of electronic waste).

Big Data and Knowledge

Finally, in Easter Term we will explore the impact of data driven narratives on concepts of knowledge and on the organisation of knowledge production. Issues here include the impact on scientific research of a drive towards open publication of data, the limits of a quantitative view of the world (and the politics of its current primacy in 'big data' narratives over a qualitative one), and the range of views around the importance of data literacy.

Administrative assistance: gradfac@crassh.cam.ac.uk