‘Lucy Kueng, senior research associate at Reuters and internationally renowned expert on digital disruption, has published a new ebook titled Transformation Manifesto: 9 Priorities for Now. It delves into how publishers can change for the better in the aftermath of the pandemic. She wants to help them “seize the opportunities presented by the undeniable crisis we face, because those opportunities are truly huge.”

This week, SIIA published an issue brief assessing the use of data analytics in the criminal justice system.  Not surprisingly, data analytics has helped to reduce crime and improve the criminal justice system, particularly through its application in predictive policing and criminal risk assessment.  The report also explores critical questions and concerns raised about the effectiveness and unintended outcomes of the various tools in use today. This report is timely, as it coincides with a critical decision handed down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court about the use of evidence-based risk assessment tools at sentencing.  The Court supported the use of predictive tools, such as the COMPAS tool at the center of the trial, but it ruled that “risk scores may not be considered as the determinative factor in deciding whether the offender can be supervised safely and effectively in the community.” [emphasis added] Essentially, the court’s decision confirme ...

The SIIA is delighted to introduce one of the newest members to join SIIA’s Software & Services Division, Qubole. I had a chance to sit down with Ashish Thusoo, Co-Founder & CEO of Qubole to learn a little more their data services. Please find my interview below. more

The SIIA is delighted to introduce one of the newest members to join SIIA’s Software & Services Division, Carevoyance. I had a chance to sit down with Anatoly Geyfman, CEO of Carevoyance, to learn a little more about their data driven applications and solutions for the healthcare industry. Please find my interview below. more

We are at a key inflection point in the history of information technology (IT), representing the evolution of IT from a specialized tool into a pervasive influence on nearly every aspect of everyday life.  As the Internet further develops away from a computer-to-computer communication network, it is becoming a ubiquitous network linking electronic devices and everyday objects.  This development, often referred to as the “Internet of Things” (IoT), describes ubiquitous interconnectivity, where people don’t just interact with a wide range of objects and devices, but devices and objects also interact directly with each other. Today, SIIA released a new report, Empowering the Internet of Things:  Benefits, Solutions and Recommendations for Policymakers, providing an in-depth look at the technological, social, and economic benefits and challenges facing the IoT.  It examines how data processing applied to the information flows from the IoT will make ...

A recent article in the New York Times raises the question: do algorithms discriminate?  The question is legitimate, but the emphasis is wrong.  Instead of thinking of data analytics as a problem, we need to welcome the new opportunities for improved decisionmaking that they enable.  And we need to cooperate to identify and address any disparate impacts data-driven decisionmaking might have.

Earlier this week, the Executive Office of the President released a report on big data and differential pricing that is a sensible guide to a tricky topic. The main conclusions were that the use of big data for differential pricing doesn’t really raise any new policy issues.  It is not widespread, the practice has many consumer benefits, there is no evidence of real harm associated with the practice and hypothetical harms are covered under existing laws or are likely to be mitigated by consumer behavior such as seeking the best price.

SIIA Event to Examine How Data is Transforming Healthcare and Policy Implications

Today SIIA filed comments in the Federal Trade Commission’s Workshop on “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?” The workshop was held on September 15 and usefully framed important developments in the use of data analytics for providing services to low income and underserved consumers and provided a forum for discussion of the possibility of unfair or discriminatory use of data analytics.

The recent FTC workshop “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?” posed important questions on whether and how analytics could be used to restrict life chances for people rather than create economic and social opportunity.  The answer lies in the hands of the user of the technology, not in the technology itself.  The critical question is how people use, implement or otherwise act on the discoveries – the indicators, insights and evidence – that data analytics can uncover or reveal.