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Original Research Article

Big Data & Society
July–December 2014: 1–20
The emerging role of Big Data in key ! The Author(s) 2014
DOI: 10.1177/2053951714564227

development issues: Opportunities, bds.sagepub.com

challenges, and concerns

Nir Kshetri

Abstract
This paper presents a review of academic literature, policy documents from government organizations and international
agencies, and reports from industries and popular media on the trends in Big Data utilization in key development issues
and its worthwhileness, usefulness, and relevance. By looking at Big Data deployment in a number of key economic
sectors, it seeks to provide a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of using it for addressing key
issues facing the developing world. It reviews the uses of Big Data in agriculture and farming activities in developing
countries to assess the capabilities required at various levels to benefit from Big Data. It also provides insights into how
the current digital divide is associated with and facilitated by the pattern of Big Data diffusion and its effective use in key
development areas. It also discusses the lessons that developing countries can learn from the utilization of Big Data in big
corporations as well as in other activities in industrialized countries.

Keywords
Big Data, development, agriculture, healthcare, social media, cellphone, data privacy and security, smallholder farmers

Introduction needs for toilets, clean drinking water, and infra-

Big Data (BD) is likely to be of tremendous benefit to structures (bigdata-startups.com, 2013). To take an
developing countries. It is anticipated that geo-locating example, in Kenya’s Nairobi, geo-coded cellphone
a rural African farmer working in his farm with the help transaction data is used by the Engineering Social
of an app installed in his cellphone, identifying the soil Systems (ESS) project to model slums’ growth, which
type and needs of the field, and offering advice regarding could help the government to optimize resource allo-
appropriate seeds, where they can be purchased, and cation for infrastructural development and other
how they can be planted and harvested is not far in resources (Bays, 2014). Alternative data collection and
the future (Patel, 2013). As another example, a retro- analysis techniques such as surveys have a very low
spective analysis of the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti degree of usefulness for such purposes, which may
showed that mining data from Twitter and online news take months and even years for getting results and
reports could have given the country’s health officials an are often out of date.
accurate indication of the disease’s spread with a lead An encouraging trend is that the tools and expertise
time of two weeks (Chunara et al., 2012). that are employed to make decisions and take actions
Perhaps the greatest advantage offered by BD in the
context of development is that it helps us gain a better
understanding of the extent and nature of poverty and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA
devise appropriate policy measures. For instance,
mobile data can make it possible to better understand Corresponding author:
Nir Kshetri, Bryan School of Business and Economics, The University of
the dynamics of slum residents. The call detail record North Carolina at Greensboro, Bryan Building, Room: 368, P. O. Box
(CDR) and other information can provide insights into 26165, Greensboro, NC 27402-6165, USA.
the slum population, which would help forecast the Email: nbkshetr@uncg.edu

Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCom-
mercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, repro-
duction and distribution of the work as published without adaptation or alteration, without further permission provided the original work is attributed
as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
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2 Big Data & Society

related to behavioral advertising based on consumers’ system, which is tightly linked to the diffusion of an
real-time profiling are being used in addressing develop- innovation (O’Neil et al., 1998; Rogers, 1995, 2003).
mental problems. For instance, data generated by social While there are some encouraging trends in the util-
media such as Twitter is being analyzed in order to ization of BD in addressing a number of social and
detect early signs that can lead to a spike in the price economic problems, developing economies are far
of staple foods, increase in unemployment, and out- from achieving the full transformative potential of
break of diseases such as malaria. Robert Kirkpatrick BD. It is thus important for researchers and policy-
of the UN Global Pulse team referred to such signs as makers to have a deeper understanding of social, pol-
‘‘digital smoke signals of distress’’ and noted that they itical, and economic contexts that facilitate and inhibit
can be detected months before official statistics (Lohr, BD’s diffusion and effective utilization in key develop-
2013). The importance of this technique is even more ment areas. This issue also needs to be considered in
pronounced if we consider the fact that there are no relation to the broader issue of the digital divide.
reliable statistics in many developing countries. In light of the above observations, our goal in this
Prior research indicates that information infrastruc- paper is modest and is simply aimed at deepening our
ture has social, political, and economic dimensions understanding of facilitators and inhibitors of diffusion
(Bowker, 1996). This argument can be extended in and effective utilization of BD in developing countries.
obvious ways to include BD infrastructures. We argue A related goal of this paper is to explore this issue in
that different social, political and economic situations relation to the current nature of the international digi-
and the current state of digital divide may give rise to tal divide. In order to achieve these goals, we present a
signiEcantly different rates of diffusion in industrialized review of academic literature, policy documents from
and developing countries. Unsurprisingly, there is an government organizations and international agencies,
enormous gap between the developing and developed and reports from industries and popular media on the
worlds in the utilization of BD. trends in BD utilization in key development issues and
One way to better understand this phenomenon is to its worthwhileness, usefulness, and relevance.
consider how the nature of the current digital divide is Before getting to the details of this study, it is worth-
associated with and facilitated by the pattern of BD while to first clarify some of the key concepts. By
diffusion and its effective use. Hilbert (2014) notes developing countries, we mean low-, lower middle-,
that the current inequality of technological capacity and lower middle-income countries in the World Bank
represents a more mature and also more persistent categorization (The World Bank Group, 2014). In order
stage of the digital divide. Boyd and Crawford (2012) to define BD for the purpose of this paper, we start with
argue that limited access to BD has created new forms the technology research company Gartner’s definition of
of digital divides. They note that the lack of money to BD, which are ‘‘high-volume, high-velocity and high-
afford data is among many factors that may contribute variety information assets that demand cost-effective,
to the digital divide. innovative forms of information processing for
The international digital divide may account for the enhanced insight and decision making’’ (gartner.com,
differential rates of BD diffusion and its effective use in 2013). With regard to volume, Boyd and Crawford
industrialized and developing countries. In order to (2012: 663) note that BD is a ‘‘poor term’’ and argue
better understand the diffusion and effective use of that BD ‘‘is less about data that is big than it is about
BD in developing countries, it is thus first important a capacity to search, aggregate, and cross-reference large
to consider the current stage of the digital divide. data sets’’. In this paper’s context, we define BD as data
Hilbert (2014) has identified three complementary sets that can provide insights into human well-being,
stages associated with the digital divide: access to a which satisfy at least one of the following characteristics
technology, its effective usage, and social integration compared to data sets that have been traditionally used
and impact of the technology. The rapidly narrowing in developmental issues: (a) are of higher volume, (b) are
access gap between industrialized and developing coun- of wider variety, and (c) enable users to make decisions
tries makes the last two stages more relevant. Prior and act faster. The paper is structured as follows.
researchers have suggested that factors such as avail- We proceed by first discussing the methodology. The
ability of skills and capabilities, social and cultural section following that provides a theoretical framework
attitudes towards a technology, the institutional for assessing the diffusion and effects of BD in develop-
environment, and social reorganization are tightly ing countries. Next, we analyze the characteristics of BD
linked to the ability to use the technology effectively in the context of development. This is followed by a
and appropriately (Buente and Robbin, 2008; section on the emerging trends associated with BD util-
DiMaggio and Hargittai, 2001; DiMaggio et al., 2004; ization in development with a discussion of some present
Hilbert, 2014; Robinson, 2009). Many of these factors and potential future applications. Then, we investigate
can be considered as key components of a social the opportunities and challenges of using BD for
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development with the help of the case of agriculture and et al., 1998; Rogers, 1995, 2003). Rogers (1995) identi-
farming activities. It is followed by a section on dis- fied various characteristics of a technology affecting its
cussion and implications. The final section provides diffusion pattern. Table 1 presents how BD performs in
concluding comments. terms of the various characteristics of an innovation
proposed by Rogers: relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, observability, and trialability.
Methodology Regarding the environment, prior researchers have
The approach employed in this paper can be described noted that an innovation (e.g. BD) is embedded in a
as a positivistic epistemology. Given the minute amount social system, which plays an important role in its dif-
of existing research on BD’s use, particularly in develop- fusion. A social system is ‘‘a set of interrelated units
ing countries, much initial research in this area needs to that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish
be qualitative, concept-, and theory-building in charac- a common goal’’ (Rogers, 2003: 23). It varies in
ter. This paper thus takes such an approach. forms—formal as well as informal.
Following the approach often used in positivist Bowker (1996) provides further specification and
research, this paper seeks to identify details associated elaboration of the conditions under which new innov-
with BD use in developing countries. We have ations diffuse and thus extends Rogers’ (1995, 2003)
employed three main sources for the reasoning in the framework. He argues that, in addition to the economic
theory-development process: theoretical explanations dimension, information infrastructures also have
for ‘‘whys’’ and ‘‘hows’’ of BD diffusion; past empirical social (informal) and political (formal) dimensions.
findings; and practice or experience (Webster and Social systems also exist at different levels (individual,
Watson, 2002). Among these, the logical reasoning is organization, network, or national). For instance, the
the most important component of our explanations, social structure and communication structure affect
which provides ‘‘the theoretical glue’’ (Whetten, 1989: information flow and other factors that are critical
491). We have also included empirical research related for the adoption of the innovation by the adopting
to BD uses and from other related areas such as diffu- units. Various societal norms also affect the behavioral
sion of cellphones and other innovations. Next, BD- patterns of the members of a social system.
related experiences of organizations (e.g. Land Finally, the characteristics of the social system are
O’Lakes, DuPont, AgriLife), nations (e.g. Kenya, tightly linked to the real and/or perceived attributes of
Uganda), regions (e.g. Latin America and the an innovation (Rogers, 1995). For instance, due to
Caribbean (LAC) economies, Africa), and development BD’s potential role in promoting transparency, decision
agencies (e.g. UN Global Pulse team). In addition to makers in a social system characterized by secrecy and
academic literature, we reviewed policy documents distrust may view BD’s attributes negatively.
from government organizations and international agen-
cies and reports from industries and popular media. International heterogeneity in the diffusion rates of
Materials reviewed also include reports of consultants
innovations
and suppliers of BD-related solutions (e.g. Monsanto,
Gartner, Cisco and McKinsey). In order to locate art- We start this section with a brief description of the
icles, reports, and policy documents related to BD uses international heterogeneity in the diffusion rates of
in developing countries, we searched using various innovations and the key sources of the heterogeneity.
combinations of keywords such as ‘‘data’’, ‘‘Big Prior research indicates that organizations in a country
Data’’, ‘‘development’’, ‘‘developing countries’’, with a low degree of inter-relatedness with other com-
‘‘Africa’’, ‘‘Latin America’’, ‘‘China’’, ‘‘India’’, plementary technologies often find it difficult to obtain
‘‘Nigeria’’, ‘‘Brazil’’, ‘‘Argentina’’, etc. We limited our the information and skills needed for a new technology
search to materials published in the English language. (Allen, 1998). Thus, countries with a small base of high
technology and innovative capital goods are likely to
experience lower rates of diffusion for emerging new
A theoretical framework for assessing technologies (Antonelli, 1986). To put things in con-
the diffusion and effects of BD in text, wider and deeper adoptions of personal computers
developing countries (PCs), mobile devices, and other information and com-
Characteristics of the technology and environment munications technology (ICT) applications are likely to
lead to faster diffusion of BD.
affecting BD diffusion
Another source of international variation in BD dif-
Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that the fusion lies in the market and infrastructure factors con-
diffusion of an innovation is influenced by the environ- trolling the availability of the technology to potential
ment, and characteristics of the innovation (O’Neil adopters (Brown et al., 1976). Prior research has
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Table 1. Characteristics of a technology influencing its diffusion: the case of BD.

Dimension Explanation Situation in developing countries

Relative advantage  Perceived benefits of a technology over previous  Compared to traditional surveys (e.g. household,
technologies and the extent to which it is better labor market, living standard) Big Data involves rela-
than the idea it supersedes. tively shorter time to collect and analyze.
 BD initiatives are likely to reduce the costs signifi-
cantly compared to traditional surveys.
 SM (e.g. Twitter’s API) is more appropriate to detect
crisis than traditional techniques such as interviews
and surveys (Madsen, 2013).
Compatibility  The degree to which a technology and the tasks it  The initiatives such as Kenya’s ODP are likely to be
performs are perceived as being consistent with the incompatible with institutions filled with secrecy and
existing values, beliefs, past experiences, and needs of corruption.
potential adopters.
Complexity  The level of difficulty of installing and using a technol-  There is a shortage of skills for data-related man-
ogy (variety and uncertainty increase complexity). power. People with the lack of appropriate technical
skills and qualifications may find BD techniques more
complex.
Observability  The degree to which the features and benefits of a  BD can help document quality standards of agricul-
technology are visible, noticeable, and understandable tural products.
to self/others, the results can be described to non-
users.
Trialability  The ability to experiment or try (on a limited basis)  Organizations can try with small data sets to see the
before formally adopting. appropriateness and effectiveness of BD projects.
Source: Based on Rogers (1995) and author’s research.

suggested that manufacturers of new technological consider Booz & Company’s Digitization Index
products are more likely to focus their efforts on large (BCDI), which is based on 23 indicators such as
distributors often located in developed countries access, affordability, reliability, speed and usability of
(Gatignon and Robertson, 1985). The environments digital services/applications, and users’ skills. For
in developing countries are associated with adverse con- instance, the average BCDI score of emerging econo-
ditions in terms of markets and infrastructures, which mies was 27 compared to developed economies’ 54.
are likely to slow down the diffusion of new techno- Booz & Company has described most emerging econo-
logical innovations such as BD. For instance, a large mies in the constrained or emerging stages of digitiza-
proportion of firms in developing countries may lack tion, whereas developed economies are in the
readiness to adopt BD. Likewise, under-developed transitional or advanced stage (Strategy, 2012). In
infrastructures such as those related to weather fore- these countries, there are limited hardware, software,
casting and satellite-imaging technologies hinder the and other technology applications to generate and dis-
use of BD in agricultural activities in these countries. tribute relevant data and knowledge (UN Development
In order to provide insights into the above issues, it Program (UNDP), 2011). Moreover, the lower quality
is important to discuss the changing nature of the inter- of hardware, software, and infrastructure may lead to a
national digital divide. On the basis of a review of aca- lower amount of information flow in developing coun-
demic and practitioner-oriented writings on the digital tries. For instance, many businesses design websites
divide, Hilbert (2014) identifies three complementary with features such as ‘‘low-graphics’’ and ‘‘text-only’’
stages associated with it: access to a technology, its to accommodate the needs of users in developing
effective usage, and social integration and impact of countries.
the technology. The fact that over 90% of the popula- It is also reported that most African countries use
tion in developing economies owned cellphones in 2013 accounting methods more than five decade old to gen-
means that the access-related digital divide has signifi- erate vital statistics such as those related to gross
cantly narrowed. domestic product (GDP) (Bhushan, 2012). The World
Nonetheless, developing economies face a number of Bank’s study indicated that many countries in the LAC
challenges that may limit their capability to utilize BD region lack a strategic vision required for the overall
effectively. A low degree of digitization is among the management of the statistical system (The World Bank,
biggest barriers. One way to measure digitization is to 2010).
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Equality in access is a necessary but not a sufficient countries by connecting them to the global network
condition to lead to digital equality. Factors and deployed the Internet protocol (IP) network in
such as availability of skills and capabilities, social more than 40 countries (UNDP, 2001). By early 2001,
and cultural attitudes towards a technology, the insti- the UNDP also trained over 25,000 organizations and
tutional environment, and social reorganization are created more than 40,000 websites for governments and
tightly linked to the ability to use the technology effect- civil society stakeholders and 3000 national and regio-
ively and appropriately (Buente and Robbin, 2008; nal thematic networks (UNDP, 2001). As noted earlier,
DiMaggio et al., 2004; Hilbert, 2014; Robinson, various BD initiatives have been undertaken by the UN
2009). Factors such as the availability of skills and in developing countries.
the availability of social support have also been recog- Another encouraging trend is that there has been an
nized by DiMaggio and Hargittai (2001) as the key abundance of BD-related entrepreneurship in the
dimensions of the digital divide. They have especially developing countries. This is important because, as
emphasized the role of ‘‘Internet competence’’, which is noted above, Western firms often find developing
related to the know-how, technical skills and capacity countries to be less attractive markets. Firms in these
to exploit the Internet’s potential by strategically countries are rapidly emerging as providers of products,
responding to challenges and opportunities services, software, and solutions related to BD (Kshetri,
(DiMaggio and Hargittai, 2001). 2011). For instance, a technology developed by the
Finally, equality in usage does not necessarily trans- Brazilian company Cignifi can recognize patterns in
late to social equality. Some groups of society are in a consumers’ phone-calls, text messages, and data
position to benefit more from ICTs than others. This usage, which are used to predict lifestyle and credit
implies the possibility of dominance by some social risk profile (bigdata-startups.com, 2013). A study con-
groups and may therefore lead to ‘‘an increasing ducted by India’s National Association of Software
social divide’’ (Hilbert, 2014). For instance, one com- and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and CRISIL
mentator noted that about 90% of the discussion at the Global Research & Analytics estimated that the
2013 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) referred to BD Indian BD industry was US$ 200 million in 2012,
as a surveillance tool. At the same time, the debate which is expected to increase to US$ 1 billion in 2015
focusing on developing countries treated BD as a (Srikanth, 2013). Likewise, the AgriLife platform was
means to ‘‘observe’’ people to fight poverty. The argu- developed by Kenya-based IT company MobiPay and
ment provided by IGF participants was that data can was launched in late 2012. Mercy Corps supported the
help provide access to clean drinking water, healthcare, expansion of AgriLife to Uganda and helped build rela-
and other necessities (linnettaylor, 2013). tionships with other service providers and integrate
them into the platform, so they can reach rural clients
Some forces to overcome the adverse impacts of more effectively.
markets and infrastructures
Characteristics of BD in the context
While manufacturers of new technological products
of development
often find developed countries less attractive, prior
researchers have suggested that multinationals exploit Massive amounts of data generated by social media,
technological capabilities internationally by means of cellphones, and other digital communication tools,
activities such as export, movement of production which are being increasingly used in developing coun-
activities abroad, and licensing, which have driven the tries, are a true form of BD. While such data has not
globalization of technologies (Archibugi and Michie, been traditionally used in developmental issues, it is
1997; Iammarino and Michie, 1998). Such forces have likely to be a useful indicator of human well-being
been shown to influence the diffusion of Internet and e- and is thus a relevant BD source for development
commerce related technologies, especially in developing (Global Pulse, 2012).
economies (Kshetri, 2001; Kshetri and Dholakia, 2002). It is first important to explain what BD is and how
As noted earlier, transnational corporations (TNCs) one can say that a data set used for a specific, develop-
such as Monsanto and Syngenta are likely to drive ment-related purpose is BD. As noted earlier, Gartner
the international technology transfer of BD in the agri- has defined BD in terms of three Vs: volume, velocity,
cultural sector. and variety. The software company, SAS, has added
Prior research has suggested that international insti- two additional dimensions: variability and complexity
tutions influence the global diffusion of ICTs in several (sas.com, 2013). The following discussion will examine
ways (Kshetri, 2001). For instance, they introduced the how the various characteristics or dimensions of BD
Internet for the first time in many developing countries. identified by Gartner and SAS are relevant in the con-
The UNDP introduced the Internet in more than 15 text of developmental data (Table 2).
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Table 2. Relevance of Big Data dimensions in developmental issues.

Characteristic Explanation Some examples in the context of development

Volume Huge amount of data is created from a wide range of Rapid diffusion of cellphones, social media, and other
sources such as transactions, unstructured streaming technologies has led to the creation of huge amount
from text, images, audio, voice, VoIP, video, TV and of data.
other media, sensor, and machine-to-data.
Velocity (fast data) Some data is time-sensitive and needs to be collected, Most decisions are based on data that are near-real-time
stored, processed, analyzed, and acted on quickly. In (e.g. AgriLife).
some cases, speed is more important than volume.
Variety Data comes in multiple formats such as structured, Structured and unstructured data are being used in a
numeric data in traditional database, and unstruc- number of developmental projects (e.g. Malaria
tured text documents; email, video, audio, and Surveillance & Mapping project in Botswana and
financial transactions. ‘‘Water Watchers’’ in South Africa).
Variability Data flows can vary greatly with periodic peaks and Variation of data flow is related to certain develop-
troughs. These are related to social media trends, mental indicators (e.g. the correlation of the volume
daily, seasonal and event-triggered peak data loads, of Tweets about staple foods and increase in the
and other factors. cost).
Complexity Data come from multiple sources which require linking, By matching and linking data from diverse sources such
matching, cleansing, and transforming across systems. as CDRs, open portals, social media, government,
NGOs, and corporations (e.g. prediction of food
shortages by combining data related to drought,
weather conditions, migration patterns, market
prices of staples, seasonal variation in prices and past
productions), key insights can be gained regarding a
developmental issue.

mobile-generated data to individuals, which can help

Volume
understand their needs and behaviors (World
There has been a colossal increase in the digitization Economic Forum (WEF), 2012). The frequency with
rate of developing countries. Of particular importance which calls are made and received with contacts outside
to the present discussion is the rapid diffusion of cell- of one’s immediate community provides an in-depth
phones, which are probably the most important source understanding of the socio-economic class (UN
of data in the context of development. Whereas only a Global Pulse, 2013a).
little over a quarter of the population in developing Probably the most useful category of data is the
countries owns a PC, close to 90% owned cellphones CDR, which is automatically generated by mobile net-
in 2013. One estimate suggested that the mobile data work operators for all mobile transactions. Each record
traffic generated by subscribers in emerging markets contains attributes of the transaction such as the start
grew by over 100% in 2013 (cisco.com, 2014). time and duration of a call. In addition, the operator
People with high disposable income in developing records cell towers with which the phones of the caller
economies tend to spend a significant portion on top- and recipient are connected. This information makes it
ping up their mobile airtime credit. The monthly air- possible to use CDRs to know the location of both
time expenses can provide background of the parties (UN Global Pulse, 2013a). CDRs have a
household income. This information provides guidance number of potential uses. The information about cell
on how to best target appropriate services through towers provides insight into the community’s move-
advertising. It can be done anonymously. Monitoring ment patterns such as how people move from home,
airtime expenses for trends and sudden changes pro- work, school, markets or clinics. More importantly,
vides a measure of the early impact of an economic such information provides a basis for assessing the
crisis and the impact of programs designed to improve potential spread of a disease into the area and the
livelihoods (UN Global Pulse, 2013b). movements of a disaster-affected population (UN
Mobile phone-related data often provide high qual- Global Pulse, 2013b). This information provides key
ity, valuable information because a mobile phone is insight for relief efforts.
often the only interactive technology for most low- Cellphone transactions have been recognized as a
income individuals. Moreover, it is easy to link major source of data for developmental issues. For
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instance, the characteristics of data related to microfi- information’’ on farmers’ ability to pay for services
nance transactions such as the number and character- (capacity.org, 2013), facilitated over US$ 2 million in
istics of clients, loan amounts and types, and default revolving credit lines to about 120,000 small farmers in
rate arguably fall between traditional development data Kenya and Uganda (G-Analytix, 2013).
and BD (Global Pulse, 2012). With a more widespread As another example, the World Bank’s ‘‘Listening to
use of mobile and online platforms for microloan trans- LAC’’ (L2L) initiative in Latin America deployed
actions, a large amount of microfinance data can be mobile technologies to conduct real-time self-adminis-
digitized and analyzed in real time. tered surveys. The surveys collect life events data on a
Activity data generated by social media also consti- near real-time basis and generate panel data. The data
tutes a major data source for developmental issues. For is expected to inform policymakers on current indica-
instance, most of Facebook’s growth in recent years is tors and help them to respond more quickly and effect-
coming from emerging markets. Among the 10 coun- ively to key trends (The World Bank, 2010). The data
tries with the most Facebook users in 2012, six were collection instrument is also expected to help policy-
emerging markets. Five of them, India, Brazil, makers assess the impact of their programs in real
Indonesia, Turkey, and the Philippines, accounted for time and observe coping mechanisms in situations
217 million Facebook users in 2012 (Mims, 2012). This such as migration, school attendance, employment
growth can be partly attributed to initiatives such as patterns, and nutrition (The World Bank, 2010).
Facebook Zero. Thanks to Facebook’s collaboration It is especially important to explain the benefits of
with mobile operators from a number of emerging BD in the context of the lack of availability of data on
economies, users can access 0.facebook.com key developmental indicators. Most traditional devel-
(Facebook Zero) completely free. Facebook Zero con- opment data come from surveys (e.g. household, labor
tains the key features of Facebook. A majority of users market, living standard) and official statistics. In add-
in developing countries use mobile devices to access ition to high costs, key problems of survey data include
Facebook. Most of these phones are feature phones a relatively longer time to collect and analyze.
that operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, rather than Painfully, developing nations need to wait for a
smart phones with app capabilities. Every Phone app, decade or more to adjust the GDP or estimate poverty
which runs on around 3000 feature phone models indicators (Fengler, 2013). Data that is collected more
worldwide, has made it possible for these users to frequently, which is better organized, can help assess
access Facebook. As of July 2013, over 100 million the social and economic conditions faster.
people used this app. Some telecom carriers in countries
such as India, the Philippines, and Indonesia offer free
or discounted data for Facebook Zero users (Byford,
Variety
2013). It is important to first define structured and unstruc-
tured data. Structured data can be organized in an
assigned format that can be used by a database man-
Velocity
agement system such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL.
Velocity is considered as a ‘‘competitive differentiator’’ Some examples include histories of mobile payment
for businesses using BD (Laney, 2001: 2). In this paper’s transaction and the date of a Twitter account creation.
context, BD provides the possibility for real-time feed- Such data can be arranged in a list, compared with
back, which can lead to important developmental out- other data, used to generate new data, and retrieved
comes. For instance, by monitoring a population in real for decision making. Unstructured data, on the other
time, it is possible to understand the areas where devel- hand, is unformatted and lacks a predefined standard
opmental policies and programs are failing and make structure (e.g. cannot be organized in terms of rows and
required adjustments (Letouzé, 2012). columns). Some examples include email messages,
A number of initiatives that have been launched to social media posts, pictures, and video. It is also
promote a BD ecosystem have focused on velocity of worth noting that some sources involving interactions
data. In sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies, the use between people and machines such as web applications
of farm credits is reported to decline due to poor access or social networks may provide multi-structured data.
to financial services, high borrowing costs, and high For instance, web log data includes unstructured data
risks associated with such credits (Oluoch-Kosura, such as text and visual images and structured data such
2010). The creation of high-velocity data has helped as transactional information (Arthur, 2013).
address some of these problems. For instance, as of Structured and unstructured data are being increas-
September 2013, the information created by AgriLife, ingly combined in developmental projects. For
a cloud-mobile platform in Kenya which provides instance, the Malaria Surveillance & Mapping project
financial institutions and suppliers ‘‘near-real-time in Botswana was a pilot program launched in 2011,
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8 Big Data & Society

which aims to move away from paper reports towards volume of Tweets about staple foods had a positive
mobile clouds. Health care workers are equipped with correlation with increase in the cost (UN Global
mobile phones to gather and upload malaria-related Pulse, 2013a).
data to the cloud. The data can also be tagged with
structured data such as GPS coordinates and unstruc-
Complexity
tured data such as pictures, video, and audio. If there
are signals of an outbreak of malaria, Ministry of It would be helpful to first note that the really big dif-
Health officials and other health workers in the area ference between variety and complexity concerns mul-
receive a real-time notification via text message tiple data types (variety) versus multiple sources of data
(mhealthinfo.org, 2011). (complexity). Matching and linking data from multiple
Another remarkable example of the utilization of sources such as CDRs, open portals, social media, gov-
structured and unstructured data is ‘‘Water ernment sources, non-governmental organizations
Watchers’’, a mobile application developed to report (NGOs), and corporations can provide a whole picture
water-related issues in May 2013 by IBM and South of the economic and social conditions of the rural
Africa’s City of Tshwane. One estimate suggested that population and thus valuable and relevant new insights
60% of water worldwide is lost due to leaky pipes (bigdata-startups.com, 2013). To take an example, a
(Carew, 2013). The app’s users take a picture which study of the ESS department of Harvard University
shows a water-related problem and answers three ques- (hsph.harvard.edu, 2014) indicated that BD can be
tions about the problem. This data is then uploaded in employed to predict food shortages by combining vari-
real time on a cloud server. The information generated ables from a number of sources such as drought, wea-
can be expected to identify a water ‘‘leak hot spot’’ map ther conditions, migration patterns, market prices of
(Carew, 2013). BD may hold a great promise for find- staples, seasonal variation in prices, and past produc-
ing appropriate steps to prevent or minimize this tions (bigdata-startups.com, 2013). As another exam-
wastage. ple, time-series analyses of CDRs can be combined
with random surveys to provide better insights about
the dynamics of rural economies and help devise appro-
Variability priate government responses (bigdata-startups.com,
The approaches in BD assume that correlations can be 2013).
considered as pragmatic indications of relations among
variables (Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier, 2013). In BD in development: Some present uses
this regard, one technique which has been of great
interest in developing countries is anomaly (or outlier)
and potential future applications
detection based on the variability over time in the These are noteworthy and encouraging trends in BD’s
amount of data flow related to a given developmental utilization in developing economies. BD is playing an
indicator. Note that anomaly detection involves iden- increasingly important role in several key development
tifying items or events that fail to conform to an areas such as healthcare, agriculture, biotechnology,
expected pattern. The idea here is that items or events education, and environment monitoring.
that exhibit an anomalous behavior (e.g. unusually high BD has been effectively used to evaluate and measure
rate flow of data of certain categories) may be asso- the impacts of humanitarian aid and similar interven-
ciated with some kind of problem. To take an example, tions. One example is the UN’s analysis of social media
the data formats used in Twitter’s API are such that posts to find out whether its Every Woman Every Child
they provide the dynamic anomaly detection features (EWEC) initiative accomplished the goal of effectively
(Madsen, 2013). The idea here is that the key metadata delivering the message to the target audience.
used in segmenting Twitter data such as hashtags (#) The UN trained a team to monitor and recognize
and replies (@) are user-generated and thus are logical relevant Tweets. The EWEC team used the analytical
targets to follow in order to understand problems and tool Forsight developed by the social media analysis
crises that users face. In sum, observing patterns of consulting firm Crimson Hexagon to analyze public
anomalies inside the data flowing from the Twitter Tweets from September 2009 to July 2013. The team
API, one can detect signals of a crisis (Madsen, 2013). developed a taxonomy of relevant keywords such as
One example to illustrate this point comes from a ‘‘maternal health’’, ‘‘breastfeeding’’, and ‘‘vaccination
research project undertaken by the UN Global Pulse, of children’’ to identify messages that are relevant to
which indicated that analysis of Twitter data can pro- women’s and children’s health and searched these key-
vide information on an increase in food prices. An ana- words (Global Pulse, 2012, 2014). An analysis of mil-
lysis of a data set containing thousands of Tweets from lions of social media posts in a two-year period
Indonesia discussing the price of rice indicated that the regarding the extent and frequency with which relevant
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Table 3. Relevance of BD dimensions in EWEC’s analysis of social media posts.

Characteristic Explanation in the EWEC context

Volume The EWEC team analyzed about 14 million Tweets.

Velocity Utilization of user-generated digital content and Crimson Hexagon’s analytical tool led to faster analysis and
decision-making.
Variety The analysis involved structured data such as the dates of Twitter posts and unstructured data such as Twitter texts
for the relevant keywords.
Variability There was a sharp increase in Tweets containing the keywords identified by the EWEC team during key events such
as World Aids Day, Mothers Day, International Women’s Day and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
summits.
Complexity Combining the Tweet data with data from other sources (e.g. Facebook posts) might offer further insights and
understanding of the EWEC initiatives and validate the results.

keywords were used indicated a significant shift which is prohibitively expensive for most Tanzanians
towards an increased awareness of parental health (irinnews.org, 2009).
(Kirkpatrick, 2013). A creative feature of the process is that front-line
In the pre-BD era, the principal way to measure the workers from every clinic send an SMS with their
impacts of humanitarian aid programs such as the stock count every week. Based on the figures sent by
EWEC would be to conduct household surveys. It is the clinics, senior coordinating staff can determine an
thus important to compare the performance of BD with appropriate target restocking level at a given clinic to
such surveys. In this regard, Table 3 illustrates how make sure that no stock-out occurs. The WHO
different BD dimensions can be applied in the context reported highly encouraging results. The proportion
of EWEC’s analysis of social media posts. Regarding of clinics with no stock of at least one antimalarial
the volume, despite problems such as the relative lack medicine decreased from 78% to 26%. In one of the
of randomness compared to household surveys, it is three districts, stock-outs were completely eliminated
possible to inexpensively extract a huge amount of by week 8 of the pilot (Newton, 2012). It is worth
data from social media posts. Sometimes the final noting that the data used in SMS for Life is not as
results may take years since key processes in household big as that of the EWEC initiative. Nonetheless, by
surveys such as visiting households for data collection aggregating and cross-referencing data sets collected
and entering data into a computer system are extremely from a number of clinics and other sources, the pro-
time consuming and expensive. Finally, such surveys gram has been able to improve the distribution of mal-
are not effective in collecting and analyzing unstruc- aria drugs. According to Boyd and Crawford’s (2012)
tured data. definition, the data used in SMS for Life can be con-
A similar use of BD has been in providing real-time sidered as BD for development.
information on important social and economic indica-
tors. For instance, sentiment analysis can provide
insights into a community’s attitude toward certain
Potential impacts of BD in enhancing transparency
key issues. To take an example, the United Nations The above discussion indicates BD’s potential socioe-
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2013) showed that by conomic impacts in a number of domains and sectors.
analyzing parents’ social media posts, it is possible to Among the major impacts we may point out the BD-led
track attitudes towards immunization. promotion of transparency and accountability. Note
Another notable use of BD has been in the design of that transparency involves making information about
an effective method and system for efficient distribution an entity’s operations, structures, and other attributes
and management of life-saving medicines that have lim- available to the public (Finel and Kristin, 1999; Heald,
ited supplies. One example is the World Health 2006). Transparency has gained wide support among
Organization’s (WHO) pilot program called SMS for state decision-making bodies, international organiza-
Life (http://www.rbm.who.int/psm/smsWhatIsIt.html), tions, and private companies (Finel and Kristin, 1999).
which aims to improve the distribution of malaria Governments can increase transparency by making
drugs in Tanzania’s rural areas at the health facility information available to the public. For instance, the
level. Demand for antimalarial drugs is highly unpre- US government’s launch of the website Data.gov in
dictable. Such drugs cost as much as US$ 10 per course, 2009, which makes statistical information collected by
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10 Big Data & Society

over 50 federal agencies available to the public, is con- Opportunities and challenges of using
sidered as an important transparency measure (Etzioni, BD: The case of agriculture and farming
2010). Among developing economies, Kenya is prob-
activities
ably the most spectacular example in making data
available to the public and facilitating the use of BD. One of the most important benefits of BD can be in
In 2011, Kenya launched an Open Data Portal (ODP) improving agricultural productivity. This effect is likely
with the help of the World Bank. The project received to have tremendous developmental benefits as the agri-
support at the highest levels of the government. The cultural sector employs over 60% of the active labor
data in the ODP includes a full digital edition of the force in SSA economies (Oluoch-Kosura, 2010).
2009 census, government expenditure for 12 years, According to the UNCTAD’s World Investment
household income surveys, and data about the location Report (2009), over 900 million people in the world
of schools and health facilities. were undernourished, and 65 countries faced ‘‘serious’’
A popular version of the theory of transparency is or ‘‘alarming’’ danger of food shortages and famine.
that, thanks to their purchasing power, consumers play Studies have suggested that ineffective farm operations
a key role in controlling the economy by choosing the such as late planting/weeding, the lack of proper land
businesses that are likely to succeed or fail (Sirgy and preparation and harvesting techniques, and poor hous-
Su, 2002). In order to exercise their power, consumers ing and feeding for livestock can reduce smallholder
like to have information about the attributes of the farmers’ productivity by up to 40% (Oluoch-Kosura,
goods they purchase. Manufacturers thus provide 2010). BD has a potential to improve this condition.
information such as caloric value, types, and levels of According to Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed com-
vitamins in the labels of food items in a product. pany, tailoring information and advice to farmers could
According to the transparency theory, this disclosure increase annual world-wide crop production by about
enables consumers to make informed choices and US$ 20 billion (Bunge, 2014).
reward the businesses that provide the preferred prod- Some argue that BD is the source of the next revo-
ucts. This practice puts business disregarding con- lution in farming (Bunge, 2014). An overview of the
sumers’ preferences at a disadvantage (Sirgy and Su, deployment of BD in industrialized countries would
2002). In this paper’s context, developed country- be helpful for how the condition can be improved in
based firms are in a strong position to exercise their developing countries. On this front, precision agricul-
power over farmers from developing countries. The ture or precision farming has been a key trend in indus-
use of BD forces farmers to use less pesticide, which trialized countries. Data collected on soil conditions,
is likely to help them enhance the quality of their prod- seeding rates, crop yields, and other variables from
ucts and stay competitive. As noted earlier, the avail- farmers’ tractors, combines, and drones is combined
ability of digital records of farming activities plays a with detailed records on historic weather patterns, top-
major role in documenting quality standards of agricul- ography, and crop performance collected by the pro-
tural products. viders of prescriptive-planting technology (Bunge,
Apart from the obvious direct economic effects, the 2014; foxnews.com, 2014). Human experts may need
use of BD is also associated with a number of non- to perform tasks involving decision problems and pro-
economic benefits. Strengthening transparency by cesses for which no algorithm exists or the algorithm
making information public would help monitor and has not yet been developed. In some cases, due to
discipline office-holders and fight corruption (O’Neill, unknowns no algorithm can solve all instances of the
2006). Bentham (2001: 277) noted that ‘‘... the more problem. In agriculture, some examples of situations
strictly we are watched, the better we behave’’. include tasks involving unknown soil types, and
Initiatives such as Kenya’s ODP can thus be seen as a extreme weather conditions, which often need to be
key factor in strengthening the performance of govern- performed by humans rather than algorithms. The
ment and public administration in developing data is thus crunched by algorithms and human experts
countries. and turned into customized useful advice and is sent
Prior research indicates that transparency is likely to directly to farmers and their machines, instructing
be more useful when the level of information costs is them as to the optimum amount of pesticides, herbi-
lower (Etzioni, 2010). In this regard, the rapidly falling cides, fertilizer, and other applications.
costs of collecting, processing, storing, and transmitting Many tractors and combines are guided by global
data and information are likely to play major roles in positioning system satellites. An article published in
promoting transparency and accountability in the usatoday.com explained that a corn and soybean
public and the private sectors. This benefit is especially farmer in Iowa used a $30,000 drone to study how
stronger for small- and medium-sized enterprises the yield in his 900 acre farm is affected by changes in
(SMEs) engaged in exporting products. topography and other factors (Doering, 2014). This
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example is illustrative of a widespread adoption and payments, and savings accounts based on the data
diffusion of BD in the agriculture sector in industria- (Yeoman, 2013). Uganda’s Farmers Centre (FACE)
lized countries. Many farmers who have implemented was an early adopter of AgriLife. FACE started upload-
data-driven prescriptive planting based on the analysis ing information on its 10,000 farmer clients, who travel
of nutrients in soil and other factors have reported a long distances to purchase inputs and aggregate their
significant increase in productivity (Bunge, 2014). The produce at FACE warehouses for processing/sale.
point is that even small alterations in planting depth or Before using AgriLife, FACE collected information by
the distance between rows of crops can lead to a sig- paper-based questionnaires. Small farmers’ transaction
nificant increase in agricultural productivity. data would help them build a credit history, which is
The diffusion of BD is associated with and facilitated used by value-chain actors to provide credit and other
by measures taken by the providers of prescriptive- resources such as seeds, fertilizers, and pest-control
planting technology to strengthen their resources chemical agents (Yeoman, 2013).
and capabilities. In 2013, Monsanto acquired the As mentioned earlier, as of September 2013,
weather-data-mining firm Climate Corp. Likewise, the AgriLife facilitated over US$ 2 million in revolving
agricultural cooperative Land O’Lakes bought satellite- credit lines to about 120,000 small farmers in Kenya
imaging specialist Geosys. In the same vein, in order to and Uganda. The AgriLife platform is also being used
provide real-time climate and market information to its in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Senegal (G-Analytix, 2013).
data service users, DuPont announced collaboration Prior researchers have recognized that developing
with the weather-and-market analysis firm DTN/The world-based farmers face difficulties in meeting the
Progressive Farmer. In 2013, Deere agreed to send quality and safety standards set by the developed
data from its tractors, combines, and other machinery world (Oluoch-Kosura, 2010). In this regard, the avail-
to the computer servers of DuPont and Dow (Bunge, ability of easily accessible data that include digital rec-
2014). ords of farming activities such as the amounts of seeds
Developing world-based small farmers face several and pesticides will obviously play a major role in docu-
key challenges. Studies conducted in Sri Lanka and menting quality standards of agricultural products. It
other countries have indicated that farmers are not would be interesting to assess the above examples
able to sell harvests due to oversupply or not getting related to the use of data in farming activities in
the planned harvest, and the lack of necessary informa- developing countries in terms of BD dimensions.
tion (Walisadeer et al., 2013). BD can help address this Obviously, higher volume of data on farming activities
problem. is available than in the past. For instance, data such as
Nutrient management is another area where BD may farmers’ credit history and the amounts of seeds and
be relevant. In Africa, outdated knowledge is pervasive pesticides used was not available in the pre BD-envir-
and ubiquitous in recommendations for nutrient man- onment. As to the data speed, near-real-time data and
agement. This often leads to too much fertilizer in rela- information on farmers’ needs and capabilities are
tion to potential crop demand and on a uniform basis available. This means that financial institutions, pro-
irrespective of the type of land (Giller et al., 2011). A duce buyers, and other relevant actors can fulfill farm-
model-based and data-driven approach is thus likely to ers’ needs more quickly than in the past. Regarding the
reduce the costs of fertilizer and increase productivity. variety, most data currently used in farming-related
A further area in which BD might have potential to activities is structured data. Such data can be combined
facilitate agricultural and farming activities in develop- with unstructured data. For instance, farmers can
ing countries relates to the availability of near-real-time upload pictures and videos related to a problem they
data and information regarding farmers’ needs and cap- are facing, which can be analyzed by experts to offer
abilities, which can be used by value chain partners to customized advice.
effectively serve the farmers. One example, as noted ear- In one way, TNCs are likely to be a driving force
lier, is the cloud-based platform AgriLife, which is behind the diffusion of BD in the agricultural sector of
accessible via mobile phone. It is used for collecting developing countries. Large food and biotechnology
data and analyzing farmers’ production capability and TNCs such as Monsanto and Syngenta already have
history. In order to ensure fast, easy and efficient avail- a notable presence in developing countries, which is a
ability of resources and services to distant, rural farmers, positive factor from the standpoint of BD-led product-
the platform also acts as an integration point for finan- ivity growth in these countries. During 2005–2007, the
cial institutions, mobile network operators, produce share of agriculture in foreign direct investment (FDI)
buyers, and their agents (Yeoman, 2013). The data ana- inflows was 15.1% in Cambodia and 12% in Laos
lysis provides a better understanding of small farmers’ (UNCTAD, 2009). Monsanto reportedly has control
needs and production capability. Service providers can of over 95% of the Indian cotton seed market (Vidal,
tailor their offerings such as crop insurance, input 2011). TNCs, which are often producers, processors, or
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12 Big Data & Society

traders of agricultural products or sellers of inputs or genetically modified seeds, computers, and tablets for
machinery, engage in a contracting system in which farming activities are less prevalent in developing coun-
they assume a variety of responsibilities including pro- tries. Most smallholders in developing countries are not
viding technical assistance and marketing to developing in a position to do so. Smallholder farmers often have
world-based small farmers (Glover, 1984, 1987). TNCs no means to access the data and cannot interpret it. A
such as Monsanto and Syngenta, which have become a main concern is that BD collection efforts will only
driving force behind the utilization of BD in the indus- benefit big and well-educated farmers (Palmer, 2012).
trialized world, are thus likely to act as a key channel in Accurate and actionable data require considerable
the international technology transfer of BD. technical skills to handle data mining and analysis
A related point is that international technology method and system. The lack of human resources and
transfer in BD is likely to have differential effects expertise represents another major barrier to the imple-
across different categories of crops. For instance, for- mentation of BD projects. Even industrialized countries
eign companies are more active in newly emerging such as those in European Union (EU) economies have
export crops, which are integrated into the inter- reported a huge skills shortage for data-related man-
national supply chain. Traditional cash crops such as power (Kroes, 2013). Data scientists are both in short
coffee, cotton, tea, and tobacco are thus more likely to supply and expensive to employ in SSA economies
realize the need to adopt various aspects of BD (WEF, 2012). Most of the top BD companies are
(Hoeffler, 2006). from the industrialized world and developing competi-
Other potential mechanisms and determinants of BD tive indigenous companies in the BD area is not an easy
diffusion among farmers also exist. For instance, task for developing countries. The EU competition
Oluoch-Kosura (2010) reported that NGOs, farmers’ commissioner Neelie Kroes noted that of the top 20
organizations, and the private sector in Africa are play- global BD companies, 17 are from the US and two
ing important roles in facilitating farmers’ education, from Europe (Kroes, 2013). Another study suggested
access to agricultural information, and training. that of the 15 most powerful BD companies, 14 were
International supply chain structures often tend to US-based and one was Europe-based (Korolov, 2013).
exclude smallholder farmers. In Mozambique, farmers, It is argued that the highest performance computers are
who are engaged in contract farming, pool resources to unaffordable even to a member of the EU (Kroes,
get technical advice and other services. More than 2013).
400,000 smallholders with less than one hectare of As an upshot of the above discussion, there is a lack
land each are reported to benefit from such arrange- of appropriate database systems for agribusiness devel-
ments (Hoeffler, 2006). opment, agriculture management, and produce distri-
bution. A BD attempt is greatly hampered by the lack
of reliable infrastructure to collect information.
Critical challenges and issues Consider, for instance, climate-related historical data.
Against the backdrop of rapid diffusion of BD among African countries have limited capacity to develop, gen-
big farmers in industrialized countries, a comparison of erate, disseminate, and effectively use climate data and
their BD ecosystems with those of developing countries information (Twomlow et al., 2008). National institu-
would be helpful to understand critical challenges and tions, leadership, and the civil society are inherently
problems in the effective utilization of BD for develop- weak and cannot determine the types of climate data
mental issues. First, and perhaps most important, agri- and information needed for agriculture and other eco-
culture firms in the industrialized world have a long nomic activities. Among the problems faced by policy-
history of data production and consumption. For makers and practitioners to work more effectively to
instance, DuPont has been making use of farm-level respond to climate changes and other climate related
data since the early 2000s (Bunge, 2014). Likewise, it effects concern extremely low number of meteorological
is increasingly common for farmers to monitor the pro- stations for climate data collection and the lack of digit-
gress of their agricultural activities on iPads and tab- ization of the data (United Nations Framework
lets. In industrialized countries, firms in diverse Convention on Climate (UNFCC), 2007).
industries such as satellite-imaging, weather-data- As another example, the lack of information has
mining, and weather-and-market analysis have enabled been a main barrier to an effective implementation of
a rich ecosystem of BD. healthcare systems. For instance, while there is a rising
While large growers can afford specialized machi- prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia, there is no data
neries, small farmers are not in a position to do so available to measure the effects beyond intermediate
(Glover, 1987). The conditions that stimulated the outcomes such as the number of people trained; per-
growth of BD in the US farming industry such as the centage of health centers providing education; or devel-
widespread adoption of mechanized tractors, opment of training material and guidelines (e.g.
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training’s impact on detection rate and outcomes and number of positive outcomes of agricultural TNCs’
screening’s impact on complications) (Soewondo et al., operation in developing countries have been recorded,
2013). there are also possible negative effects such as the
Farmers are concerned about the potential misuse of potential abuse of their market power and dominant
information at the firm level related to their farming position. One estimate suggested that foreign investors
activities and at the industry level. For instance, the acquired (or sought) about 15–20 million hectares of
trade group American Farm Bureau Federation farmland in developing countries during 2006–2009
(AFBF) warned its members that seed companies’ pre- (UNCTAD, 2009). The increasing globalization of
scriptive planting programs have vested interests in agriculture and the food chain means that industria-
higher crop yields associated with BD’s use (Bunge, lized world-based agricultural giants may expand such
2014). Big agricultural firms such as Monsanto might activities globally.
influence farmers to buy specific seeds, sprays, and Security and privacy issues associated with BD have
equipment and are likely to profit from the costs of attained at least some degree of institutionalization in
their services and higher seed sales (Seppala, 2014). industrialized countries, which is a small comfort for
The gathering of data from sensors on tractors, com- the farmers (Kshetri, forthcoming). Most industrialized
bines, and other farm equipment by large seed compa- countries have more well-developed regulations related
nies is receiving the same level of attention as to data privacy and security. They also have industry
immigration reform and water regulations (fox- standards, company-specific guidelines, and perform-
news.com, 2014). Another key concern that farmers ance measures. For instance, US-based food and agri-
have expressed is that their data and information cultural companies such as Monsanto, DuPont, and
could be used by competitors. For example, other farm- other corporations claim that they do not use data
ers’ access to the crop-yield information may create for purposes other than providing services requested
direct and unwanted competition to rent farmland, by farmers, keep the data secure and do not sell it
which may cause a new spike in land values and seed (foxnews.com, 2014). Some companies get consent
prices (Bunge, 2014). The issue regarding who owns from customers before sharing their data. The AFBF
farmers’ crop data is also of equal concern (Seppala, has put together a ‘‘privacy expectation guide’’ to edu-
2014). cate its members. In addition, it has drafted a policy
Another fear is that Wall Street traders could use the which has emphasized that data should remain the
data to make bets that could hurt the farmers. For farmer’s property (foxnews.com, 2014). Some US farm-
instance, if conditions early in the growing season ers are reportedly contemplating a new initiative to
lead to lower futures contract prices, it may reduce aggregate data on their own so that they can decide
the profits farmers could have made from crops by the type of information to sell and at an appropriate
locking into sell the futures (Bunge, 2014). Likewise, price. Other farmers are teaming up with smaller tech-
farmers are concerned that hedge funds or big compa- nology companies in order to challenge the domination
nies might use real-time data at harvest time from a of big agricultural giants in the prescriptive-planting
large number of combines to speculate in commodity business (Bunge, 2014). Many developing countries
markets long before official crop-production estimates currently have no regulatory safeguard in place to pro-
are available (foxnews.com, 2014). This fear has some tect farmers and citizens from possible data misuse.
foundation as the developments in BD technologies This means that BD-related issues are being considered
make it possible to do so. For instance, a group at in a setting of nascent institutionalization. Farmers in
the MIT Media Lab used location data from mobile developing countries are even more prone to exploit-
phones to estimate the number of people in Macy’s ation by big businesses.
parking lots on Black Friday. The estimate made it
possible to estimate the retailer’s sales on that day
Discussion and implications
even before Macy’s had recorded those sales. Insights
like this are expected to provide competitive advantage Each generation has access to more information and
to Wall Street analysts and managers (McAfee and experiences more information overload compared to
Brynjolfsson, 2012). the preceding generation (Blair, 2003). However, a
In the developing world’s context, an even bigger key feature of the recent information revolution is
question than that of whether agricultural productivity that developing economies are experiencing a rapid
can be improved using BD is who is likely to benefit explosion of data and information due primarily to a
from the BD-led growth in productivity. One possibility widespread diffusion of cellphones and social media in
is that agricultural productivity associated with BD these economies. If history is any guide, this explosion
utilization in developing countries may provide benefits is likely to change the ways individuals and organiza-
primarily to foreign companies. This is because while a tions act and interact. In an analysis of the effects of
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information overload from the 16th to the 18th century, development. The US Department of Agriculture, for
Blair (2003) found that the availability of more infor- instance, announced the launch of a portal on the
mation led to the diffusion and development of various Data.gov website, which links to 348 agriculture data
learning aids and tools and also affected the way scho- sets (Patel, 2013).
lars worked. It is thus reasonable to expect that BD is Prior researchers have suggested that social and
likely to have a profound impact on development- other forms of supports from more experienced users
related activities such as agriculture and healthcare are likely to promote technical competence of new users
and related decision-making processes. (DiMaggio and Hargittai, 2001). In this regard, multi-
BD may have different meaning and significance for national companies and international agencies may act
the purpose of development. For instance, BD applica- as key forces in providing such supports to facilitate
tions in developing countries may not necessarily BD diffusion in developing economies.
involve petabytes of data as used by TNCs such as Political as well as economic factors are of crucial
eBay and Walmart. They may also be characterized importance in determining the distribution of benefits
by relatively lesser variety of data. Likewise, as to the resulting from the system (Glover, 1984, 1987).
velocity dimension, a data-processing time of several Farmers who are able to mobilize and organize them-
months may be considered fast enough. selves (e.g. in cooperatives or other forms of groups)
BD is being used to understand and respond to may increase their bargaining power vis-a-vis TNCs
important development issues such as water supply, based in industrialized countries.
food security, human health, conservation of natural The conditions in developing countries provide
resources, and protection against natural hazards. The limited incentives to encourage the public and private
above discussion makes it clear that while social media sectors to invest in the creation of relevant database.
activities have important social aspects and conse- It is important to develop means to make usable and
quences, SM data also has at least some economic relevant knowledge available to smallholder farmers in
importance. There have recently been some encoura- a timely manner. Data accessibility is more challenging
ging developments in the utilization of BD in improving in developing countries. In light of the usefulness of
farmers’ livelihood and access to services. The cases of climate-related data as noted above, for instance,
AgriLife and other initiatives indicate that BD has pro- more investment into climate observation networks is
moted better functioning of the market. needed. Historical and projected data on climatic con-
Experts have emphasized the importance of assess- ditions would be of great help to farmers. While the
ing organizations’ ‘‘information supply chain to iden- creation of a database that is completely customized
tify and prioritize data management issue’’ (Laney, to meet the need of every field and every farm may
2001: 2). This is also relevant to development-related not be feasible in the short run, making information
data. Data in different contexts may come from differ- available regarding a basis for even a broad categoriza-
ent combinations of sources. The composition and tion (e.g. soil type) can be of great help. For instance,
structure of the data may differ across economies. in Kenya and Zimbabwe, while a wide heterogeneity
Among developing countries, Indonesia has the most exists among farms, they can be arguably reduced
Twitter users (Richter, 2013). More Tweets come from into three categories in relation to a response to fertil-
Jakarta than from New York, Tokyo, London, or São izers: (1) fertile fields unresponsive to fertilizers, which
Paulo (Florida, 2012). In Kenya, the mobile money require only maintenance fertilization; (2) intermediate
transfer is extremely popular and could serve as an fields highly-responsive to fertilizers, which require
important data source (Kaplan, 2013; UN Global managing fertilizers efficiently; and (3) infertile fields
Pulse, 2013b). Sixty-eight percent of Kenyan cellphone unresponsive to fertilizers, which may require complete
users regularly use their phones to make or receive pay- restoration and rehabilitation (Giller et al., 2011).
ments (pewglobal.org, 2014). Providing advice and guidance to farmers based on
There is likely to be a wide variation across eco- the responsiveness to fertilizers of their farms is
nomic activities and industries in the level of the diffu- likely to lead to a more appropriate management of
sion of BD. Even within an industry, differences in the fertilizer use.
diffusion of BD are likely to be significant. For Regarding the observation that high-performance
instance, in the agricultural industry, cash crops that computers may be unaffordable to utilize BD effect-
are integrated in the modern supply chain are likely ively, it is important to note an encouraging trend:
to see the impacts of BD sooner. the diffusion of cloud computing in developing econo-
Several important lessons can be drawn from the mies. These economies are experiencing dramatic and
successful examples. Initiatives in industrialized coun- significant cloud-led socio-economic transformations
tries to develop a BD ecosystem should be instructive (Kshetri, 2012, 2013). Global cloud vendors have
for gaining an understanding of BD’s impact on entered in developing markets and some high-profile
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entrepreneurial firms are emerging in the cloud’s supply Moreover, in countries characterized by conflict,
side in these economies. This means that individuals crisis, and weak law enforcement, the privacy challenge
and businesses in developing countries can effectively may be a security risk (Letouzé, 2012). In China, a
utilize BD by renting storage and computing power malicious actor reportedly can sell a database contain-
from the clouds. ing a specific type of information, for instance, phone
Despite the optimistic promises that some consult- numbers, for more than US$ 1500 on the black market.
ants and development experts have made regarding the The illegal companies, in turn, charge their clients
developmental and practical applications of BD between US$ 1500 and US$ 150,000 for services such
(Kirkpatrick, 2013; Laney, 2001; Letouzé, 2012), it as private investigation, illegal debt collection, asset
should not be viewed as a panacea and the answer to investigation, and even kidnapping (Yan, 2012).
all the many and varied problems facing the developing
world. There is a need to fully assess availability,
Limitations
appropriateness, and effectiveness of BD in addressing
development challenges. There are only limited types of Several limitations of this paper must be recognized.
data that can be found for most developing economies First, some of the main arguments presented here rely
(e.g. related to Tweets in Indonesia and mobile money on the reports of companies which are consultants or
transfer data in Kenya). Data unavailability thus leading suppliers of BD-related solutions (e.g.
remains a major challenge, which, according to Boyd Monsanto, Gartner, Cisco, and McKinsey) and devel-
and Crawford (2012) has led to a new form of digital opmental agencies promoting BD (e.g. Global Pulse).
divide. While appropriate analysis of BD may provide These companies may have vested interests in promot-
valuable insights and information for key policy areas, ing the diffusion of BD and thus may overemphasize
great care must be taken to ensure that data quality the positive aspects of BD. An additional limitation of
standards are satisfied and appropriate methodological this research is that it covered only materials published
steps have been taken. For instance, the use of Twitter in the English language.
API data has been criticized on the grounds that it
suffers from questionable quality and serious methodo-
logical challenges such as samples of unknown repre-
Policy implications
sentativeness, a lack of one-to-one correspondence The above discussion suggests some important policy
between accounts and users and proliferation of implications which stress the need to emphasize the
Tweets created by bots (Boyd and Crawford, 2012; enrichment of the BD ecosystem and to ensure that
Crawford, 2009). appropriate regulations aimed at encouraging organiza-
It is important to discuss the above problems in the tions’ BD adoption in activities with positive social and
context of transparency. Whereas transparency is economic contributions and outcomes are in place. Due
essential to ensure reliability and validity, BD created to the public goods nature of data, organizations that
through the use of social media is often produced by invest in data collection cannot necessarily reap all the
commercial organizations’ closed structures (Driscoll benefits. While some statistics are gathered several
and Walker, 2014). For instance, Gillespie (2011), times in different ways, others are rarely or never col-
pointing out the fact that Twitter engages in censorship, lected (adb.org, 2013). Appropriate incentives are
has argued that users have displayed a ‘‘misplaced needed to collect relevant data and overcome the frag-
faith’’ in Twitter Trends, and has urged them to stop mentation among the governments and organizations
‘‘worshiping algorithms’’. collecting development-related data.
There are also important privacy and ethical issues The government is a key actor that can drive the BD
involved around BD. Acquisti and Gross (2009) ecosystem. Civic organizations, mobile app developers,
showed that combination of public databases can lead and media groups are using the data available at
to serious privacy violations such as revelation of indi- Kenya’s ODP to improve understanding of population
viduals’ social security number and other sensitive patterns and transparency of public services (WEF,
information. What is particularly relevant in the con- 2012). Governments and international agencies need
text of this paper, as noted earlier, is that some analysts to support the expansion of initiatives such as
have a tendency to criticize some uses of BD in indus- Kenya’s ODP in areas such as agriculture.
trialized countries on the ground that it is a surveillance It is especially necessary to introduce policies, pro-
tool. On the other hand, these analysts’ view is that cedures, and interventions to ensure the privacy and
people in developing countries do not need privacy. confidentiality of sensitive data. To return to the
Some have challenged this view and pointed out that Kenya example above, the ODP was put in place
poor people have no less reason than rich people without appropriate legal frameworks in key areas
to be worried about surveillance (linnettaylor, 2013). such as protections for data reuse (WEF, 2012).
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While Kenya’s constitution guarantees openness, trans- governments and international agencies to work closely
parency, and participation, which facilitated the ODP’s with businesses such as Twitter and Facebook, which
establishment, many authoritarian regimes lack such an have large amounts of data, and encourage them to
environment. engage in Data Philanthropy.
Data consumption and exchange are no less import-
ant than data production and analysis. Some argue that
the consumption of free data such as time spent on
Concluding comments
social media and on cellphones may provide a ‘‘con- The data being used in a number of developmental pur-
sumer surplus’’ not captured in official statistics poses can be considered as BD. Preliminary evidence
(Letouzé, 2013). The utilization of BD in key develop- indicates that BD is likely to help better utilize the
ment areas hinges critically upon the availability of scarce resources and can help deal with the various
manpower with BD competency. It is thus important sources of inefficiency that have been frequently cited
for national governments and international agencies to by critics as among the key obstacles for development
direct more efforts towards developing BD manpower. in developing countries. For instance, BD can help to
Guidelines, interventions, supports, and incentives reduce the waste of inputs such as fertilizer and increase
are needed to encourage sharing existing data. In this agricultural productivity and control the epidemics of
regard, much of the valuable data that is relevant for various diseases.
the development context is often with the private Uses of BD that lead to positive social and economic
sector. For instance, networks of mobile phone oper- outcomes and those that benefit socially and econom-
ators have data related to text messages, digital-cash ically disadvantaged groups need to be promoted.
transactions, and location data. In some cases, the gov- Responsible uses of BD also require protecting people’s
ernment owns these companies. One way to enrich the dignity and legitimate expectations of privacy and eco-
BD ecosystem would be to persuade these organiza- nomic interests. For instance, among the key lessons
tions to make the relevant data available (Lohr, from the overview of risks to farmers over possible
2013). Universities and research centers also constitute misuse of data and information in industrialized coun-
a key source of data and knowledge. It is argued that tries, these concerns are even more pronounced due to
scientists working in these institutes are against making the lack of data protection regulations in developing
relevant data accessible due to security, privacy, and countries. Moreover, most farmers in developing coun-
other concerns. They often use reasoning against data tries lack the degree of self-awareness and organization
sharing, such as: ‘‘I don’t want to share it’’, ‘‘it’s mine’’ that can be observed among some industrialized world-
or ‘‘It’s government property’’ (Patel, 2013). Analysts based farmers. For instance, while farming groups in
have stressed the importance of providing incentives to industrialized countries are taking measures to protect
individuals to share information such as pricing/offers against misuse and exploitation of their data, such
and improved services. It is also important to develop measures are lacking in developing countries.
privacy standards and ‘‘opt out’’ ability (WEF, 2012). BD obviously offers a number of potential benefits
Finally, for national governments and international and vast possibilities in developed economies.
agencies such as the UN or the World Bank, it is critical Nevertheless, developing economies are at a nascent
to engage in new and more comprehensive collabor- stage and far from a full utilization of the great poten-
ation with the private sector in order to facilitate the tial of BD. Benefiting from BD requires a drastically
diffusion and effective uses of BD in developing coun- different approach. In order to overcome barriers
tries. Here we introduce the concept of ‘‘Data related to BD adoption, policymakers should ensure
Philanthropy’’, which is likely to play a key role in various enabling conditions for the creation, availabil-
the diffusion of BD in developing countries (Pawelke ity, and use of data. The lack of BD-related skills and
and Tatevossian, 2013). This idea emerged at the WEF competency underscores the importance of moving the
in Davos in 2011. The basic idea behind Data focus beyond the numbers of technological devices to
Philanthropy is simple: it involves a partnership in the strengthening of national technological capacity to
which businesses share data for public benefit. Data use BD.
Philanthropy is described as the ‘‘next movement in BD has not yet been a priority of policy issue for
charitable giving and corporate citizenship’’ (Coren, most of the donor agencies nor has this issue been
2011). Data donated by corporations and governments closely tied to national development strategies. While
can be used to track diseases, avoid economic crises, many organizations and data collection process in
and aid development. While a huge amount of data is industrialized countries constitute a rich ecosystem
held by businesses, they are reluctant to distribute it and serve a wide variety of functions needed to achieve
even anonymously, due primarily to privacy concerns various goals, most developing countries lack such
(Coren, 2011). It is thus important for national ecosystems. It would be critical for the developing
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20 Big Data & Society

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