Data deprivations, data gaps and digital divides: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Big Data & Society, vol. 8

Abstract

This paper draws lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for the relationship between data-driven decision making and global development. The lessons are that (i) users should keep in mind the shifting value of data during a crisis, and the pitfalls its use can create; (ii) predictions carry costs in terms of inertia, overreaction and herding behaviour; (iii) data can be devalued by digital and data deluges; (iv) lack of interoperability and difficulty reusing data will limit value from data; (v) data deprivation, digital gaps and digital divides are not just a by-product of unequal global development, but will magnify the unequal impacts of a global crisis, and will be magnified in turn by global crises; (vi) having more data and even better data analytical techniques, such as artificial intelligence, does not guarantee that development outcomes will improve; (vii) decentralised data gathering and use can help to build trust – particularly important for coordination of behaviour.

Authors 2

1. Wim A. Naudé corresponding Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University · University College Cork · IZA - Institute of Labor Economics

   Affiliation as printed

   Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

   IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Ricardo Vinuesa

   KTH Royal Institute of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   SimEx/FLOW, Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden