Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 5
Everything
we do leaves a digital footprint. Big data has emerged as a buzzword in recent
years. Broadly, it means a large amount of information that is generated as
trails or by-products of online and offline activities — what we purchase using
credit cards, where we travel via GPS, what we ‘like’ on Facebook or retweet on
Twitter, and so on. Today, the Data as a Service (DaaS) movement is gaining
momentum, spurring one of the fastest growing industries in the world. A
somewhat nebulous term, DaaS refers to the myriad functions
that technology serves. Clearly, big data holds vast potential to favourably
impact the global socio-economic environment. But is it being used as a
signalling device for effective policy changes?
Technology
as a Catalyst to Growth
In the
last decade, technology has spawned a new wave of economic development by
creating new avenues for employment, amplifying economies of scale and reducing
costs of production. Consequently, several platforms have emerged to counter
growth challenges. For instance, Brazil and Dubai routinely face heavy road
traffic. To solve this problem, Uber designed UberCopters and UberChoppers as
an alternative to roads. Networks of aerial routes for quotidian air travel are
now being rolled out in other countries as well. Agriculture is also being
revolutionised by technology.
Several
European countries utilise Cloud Computing and Telematics to assist farmers at
every stage of the value chain, from crop growing (like prescription
application that boosts yield) to trade (like digital sale systems eliminating
middlemen). This helps farmers to hedge against uncertain
variables such as rainfall and soil fertility by smoothing the transaction
process. In the realm of financial services, net banking has significantly shrunk
costs and time, while also encouraging financial inclusion.
From
Institutionalisation to Individualisation
The
process of using data to augment standards of living involves
a shift from the aggregate to the particular, i.e., a more personalised
approach. Big data, combined with Behavioural Science, has given rise to a
discipline called Psychometrics, which uses people’s digital traces to
determine various aspects of their lives. In 2012, Michal Kosinski, one the
forerunners of the field, demonstrated that a Facebook user's skin colour,
gender, income group, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation
could be determined with 85+% accuracy from a dataset of around 70 'likes'. As
the number of likes increases, the more nuances they disclose about a person,
like the kind of car they drive, the magazines they read, and the chocolate bar
they like best.
Ultimately,
it is these personality traits that determine behaviour. Hence the application
of psychometrics to communications is changing the landscape of consumer
retail, business, education, and even politics across the globe. In his
Concordia Summit presentation, Alexander Nix, CEO of big data company Cambridge
Analytica, stated the absurdity of segmenting audiences based on demographics
or geographics. Why should all women or all old people or all rich people
receive the same message simply because of their gender or demographics or
income status?
Where
Does India Stand?
