Big Data - Social Data

Big Data – Social Data

Big data has been in the headlines across academic, government, industry and third sectors for past two to three years. The extent to which big data is seen to be revolutionary depends largely on the perspective that is taken. At the very extreme, some argue that big data will transform almost everything that is even remotely involved in data in some way. At the other extreme, the sceptics are convinced that there is fundamentally nothing new about big data, since data has always tended to be generated at a faster pace than we have been able to process or make sense of it. This one-day event hosted by the Warwick Faculty of Social Sciences, alongside the Warwick Q-Step Centre, taps into these debates and examines the challenges raised by big data across key areas of social science. Our aim is to create a vibrant transdisciplinary discussion about the shared challenges that cross-cut different areas of social science research as well as ways in which big data manifests itself in specific ways in particular fields.

PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY

9:00 - 9:30 - Arrival/Registration [Scarman House Reception]

9:30 – 9:45 - Welcome – Dr Emma Uprichard

9:45 - 10:45 - BIG DATA AND CITIES

Professor Rob Kitchin

Rob is professor and ERC Advanced Investigator in the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis at Maynooth University, for which he was director between 2002 and 2013. He is principal investigator for the Programmable City project, the All-Island Research Observatory, and the Digital Repository of Ireland, and is the author of 'The Data Revolution' (Sage, 2014). He was the 2013 recipient of the Royal Irish Academy's Gold Medal for the Social Sciences and the Association of American Geographers ‘Meridian Book Award’ for the outstanding book in the discipline in 2011.

Discussant: Professor Jon Coaffee. Politics and International Studies, Univrsity of Warwick. Director of the Resilient Cities Laboratory (ResCity Lab), a lead partner in the Warwick Institute for Sustainable Cities (WISC) and a visiting professor at New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP).

10:45-11:15 - BREAK

11:15-12:15 - BIG DATA AND HEALTH

Dr Nathan Lea

Nathan is a Senior Research Associate at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics (IHI) working on projects in clinical care and research. His research interests include the role of information systems in supporting healthcare delivery and empowering patients, and Information Governance in the use of genetic, health and social care records in clinical research, particularly in the Age of Information and Big Data

Discussant: tbc

12:15-1:15 - LUNCH [Self-service lunc in Lakeview Restaurent, Scarman House]

13:15-14:15 - BIG DATA AND ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

Judith Knight.

Judith Knight joined the Public Engagement and Communications team at the Administrative Data Service, the coordinating body for the Administrative Data Research Network, when the Network was being formed in 2014. Initially Judith concentrated on establishing and building internal communication links with the centres to foster working relationships across the Network. She is part of the small team who were initially responsible for rolling out and applying the ADRN ethos and key messages for the Network internally and forming the Network wide Public Engagement and Communication strategies in readiness for the launch of the Network in November 2014. With the Network in operation, Judith is now involved with external facing communications working to highlight the potential public benefits that research using administrative data can offer, a vital element of this role is to determine public concerns and to gain public trust in the service. Judith came to the Administrative Data Service from the Secure Data Service at the UK Data Service where she was involved with helping to set up the service and subsequently handled their external communications.

Discussant: Dr Roxanne Connelly. Assistant Professor, Sociology, Warwick Q-Step Centre, University of Warwick. Before coming to Warwick she was a research fellow at the Administrative Data Research Centre - Scotland.

14:15-15:15 - BIG DATA AND THE ECONOMY

Dr Ana Gross

Ana Gross is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies working on the ESRC funded project Interrogating the Dashboard: Data, Algorithms and Decision-Making. Her doctoral thesis, Data Types and Functions: A Study of Framing Devices and Techniques, drew on the public disclosure and leak of two databases as a means of studying the mechanisms that serve to contextualise different data units as related to particular entities and phenomena. Her research interests are on the social organisational effects of information disclosure and secrecy; the function and agency of public and private numbers and measures; re-identification demonstrations through data; and on data ethics, protocols and regulatory frameworks.

Discussant: Dr Philippe Blanchard. Associate Professor, Politics and International Studies, Warwick Q-Step Centre, University of Warwick. Director of the MA in "Politics and International Studies: Big Data and Quantitative Methods". Steering committee member of the Standing group on Political Methodology

15:15-15:45 - BREAK

15:45-16:45 - BIG DATA AND EDUCATION

Dr Ben Williamson

Ben is a Lecturer at the School of Education, University of Stirling, where he leads the ESRC-funded Code Acts in Education project to explore how software and digital data interact with educational institutions, pedagogic practices, and governing processes. His forthcoming articles are on big data and education in smart cities, and on the rise of educational data science in academic and commercial settings.

Discussant: Dr Michael Hammond. Associate Professor, Centre for Educational Studies, University of Warwick where he has led several projects investigating the use of technology for teaching and learning. His research interests focus on policy and practice and his work has covered both informal and formal use of computers; the concept of collaborative learning; information technology as a subject; and professional development. His work has offered a critical review of claims made about the impact of technology.

16:45-17:00 - CLOSING REMARKS – Dr Emma Uprichard

17:00 - CLOSE