Human Development and the Data Revolution
Deep Insights
Oxford: Oxford University Press (2025), xi, 294 pp.
"Human Development and the Data Revolution tackles a topic that in the age of data and digitalization has become timely in global development: what are the potential uses of large-scale data in the contexts of development, in particular, what techniques, data sources, and possibilities exist for harnessing large datasets and new online data to address persistent concerns regarding human development, inequality, exclusion, and participation. It also sheds light into the challenges and obstacles related to the safe and effective use of big data and computational approaches in development, given that safeguarding privacy and security as well as ensuring accurate insights are crucial principles when addressing development issues that often concern vulnerable or underserved populations. The book employs a global perspective to explore the latest advances at the intersection of big data analysis and human development. Bringing together pioneering voices from academia, development practice, civil society organizations, government, and the private sector, the book has a two-pronged focus on theoretical and practical research on big data and computational approaches in human development. It details the potentials of big data analysis for development and discusses how the challenges or barriers to the adoption of big data analysis might present limitations for its usefulness in contexts of development. The book reviews a range of relevant methods and tools and presents research results of projects employing big data in contexts of development in a language that is accessible to development researchers, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and anyone interested in the topic." (Publisher description)
PART I. THE POTENTIAL OF BIG DATA ANALYSIS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: INCREASING DIGITAL DIVIDENDS OR DEEPENING DIGITAL DIVIDES
1 Opportunities and Challenges of Data-driven Development / Sanna Ojanperä, Eduardo López, and Mark Graham, 29
2 Big Mobile Data for Social Good: Opportunities and Challenges / Nuria Oliver, 51
3 Digital Forms of Exclusion, Big Data, and Measurement of UN Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: An Ecological Systems Theory Perspective / Bitange Ndemo, 71
4 Making Human Measurement Matter for Human Development: Towards a Theory of Change for the Data Revolution and “Human AI” / Emmanuel Letouzé, 90
PART II. THE EMERGING USES OF BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: CASE STUDIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
5 Predicting Socioeconomic Status Using Big Data / Christopher Njuguna and Patrick McSharry, 117
6 Reinventing the Social Contract in an Age of Big Data / Bruno Lepri, Nuria Oliver, and Alex Pentland, 136
7 Leveraging Big Data for Public Purposes in the Global South: LIRNEasiaʼs Experiences / Sriganesh Lokanathan, Thavisha Perera-Gomez, and Shazna Zuhyle, 146
8 Advancing Human Development with Artificial Intelligence: Experimental Work from Uganda / Paula Hidalgo-Sanchis, 158
9 Extracting Insights in and around Government: Experiences in South Africa / Vukosi Marivate and Nyalleng Moorosi, 172
PART III. STRATEGIES, TOOLS, AND METHODS FOR INCLUSIVE BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
10 Digital Data Handling: A Tutorial Approach / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 187
11 Sources of Big Data in Global Development / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 205
12 Methods for the Analysis of Big Data in Development / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 226
PART IV. ISSUES OF ETHICS, JUSTICE, AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS RELATED TO BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
13 Data Justice for International Development: A Structural Model and Manifesto / Richard Heeks, 253
14 The Ethics of Big Data as a Public Good: Which Public? Whose Good? / Linnet Taylor, 270
1 Opportunities and Challenges of Data-driven Development / Sanna Ojanperä, Eduardo López, and Mark Graham, 29
2 Big Mobile Data for Social Good: Opportunities and Challenges / Nuria Oliver, 51
3 Digital Forms of Exclusion, Big Data, and Measurement of UN Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: An Ecological Systems Theory Perspective / Bitange Ndemo, 71
4 Making Human Measurement Matter for Human Development: Towards a Theory of Change for the Data Revolution and “Human AI” / Emmanuel Letouzé, 90
PART II. THE EMERGING USES OF BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: CASE STUDIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
5 Predicting Socioeconomic Status Using Big Data / Christopher Njuguna and Patrick McSharry, 117
6 Reinventing the Social Contract in an Age of Big Data / Bruno Lepri, Nuria Oliver, and Alex Pentland, 136
7 Leveraging Big Data for Public Purposes in the Global South: LIRNEasiaʼs Experiences / Sriganesh Lokanathan, Thavisha Perera-Gomez, and Shazna Zuhyle, 146
8 Advancing Human Development with Artificial Intelligence: Experimental Work from Uganda / Paula Hidalgo-Sanchis, 158
9 Extracting Insights in and around Government: Experiences in South Africa / Vukosi Marivate and Nyalleng Moorosi, 172
PART III. STRATEGIES, TOOLS, AND METHODS FOR INCLUSIVE BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
10 Digital Data Handling: A Tutorial Approach / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 187
11 Sources of Big Data in Global Development / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 205
12 Methods for the Analysis of Big Data in Development / Eduardo López and Sanna Ojanperä, 226
PART IV. ISSUES OF ETHICS, JUSTICE, AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS RELATED TO BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
13 Data Justice for International Development: A Structural Model and Manifesto / Richard Heeks, 253
14 The Ethics of Big Data as a Public Good: Which Public? Whose Good? / Linnet Taylor, 270
