Why we’re doing this project

Data holds immense value in today’s economic, political, and social realms. Recent technological advances in computing power — coupled with near perpetual connectedness afforded by the internet — have enabled data collection and analysis to be performed at scale, often referred to as ‘big data’ practices. Among other technological breakthroughs, these developments have facilitated rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and applications. As the significance of data and the technology it enables increases, so will the need to mitigate the consequences and understand how to best leverage its capabilities to maximize public and private benefits. The question of how to balance the opportunities data enables with the risks associated with privacy and equity is gaining steam across civic advocacy groups, government, corporations, academia, and the general public.