2015 AAAS Annual Meeting (12-16 February 2015)

February 12 - 16, 2015

Big Data: Challenges and Social Impacts

There has been an unprecedented increase in the quantity and variety of data generated by humankind, with an estimated 90 percent of the world’s data being produced in the past two years. This session will consider how technological innovation has improved society’s ability to collect, store, and analyze information; and how big data -- these large and complex sets of data that cannot be readily managed and analyzed using conventional desktop computers and databases -- will influence every sector of society. Leaders in business, policy, and research are grappling with how to adjust to, and make the most of, big data. The speakers in this session will explore how big data has the potential to help us better understand the behavior of markets, businesses, populations, and individuals; improve decision-making; target products or services more effectively; manage resources in a more sustainable way; and influence people’s behaviors. These developments will have profound impacts on public policy, in arenas such as health, transport, security, and our national and international governance structures and processes. During this session, participants will reflect on how big data will be situated within a wider ecosystem --which includes infrastructure, access to and interoperability of datasets, skills, and transdisciplinary research and work -- and what big data will mean for privacy, data security, and data control.