Putting Big Data to 'Good' Use

Big data and its impact on society and social policy has remained at the forefront of discussions within the social sciences for several years. But as we advance further into this data driven society, examples of big data having been used to maximize profit and cause harm have made global headlines. Those in favor of ushering in the “big data revolution” believe effective applications can enhance society and improve social policy, but others question the skills gap in the social sciences and point out that there are still challenges with data access limiting the potential for big data to be put to “good” use?In this SAGE Publishing ESRC Festival of Social Science panel debate “Putting big data to “good” use” Katie Metzler, head of methods innovation at SAGE, Dr Maria Fasli, director of the Institute for Analytics and Data Science at the University of Essex, Dr Slava Mikhaylov, professor of public policy and data science at the University of Essex, Dr Jonathan Gray, lecturer in critical infrastructure studies at Kings College London and Ian Mulvany, head of product innovation at SAGE, discuss these challenges, explore examples of progress being made and address what more we, as an academic community, could be doing to better understand and utilize big data for optimum impact.Watch the full panel discussion below:https://youtu.be/VuXEyFX0fSg