In class we have
discussed a few times whether or not researching and data are important for
people to be giving to. Some of us have
argued that statistics are just numbers and we should be giving to more direct
organizations that provide relatively immediate relief instead of research
causes. However, in my opinion, research
can provide us with what the most significant issues are in a certain place,
the root cause of those problems, and possible ways to address them. Without being fully educated on the issue,
one cannot use their time or money the most effectively.
In this article
I found, it discusses a concept called “data philanthropy”, which is when
private sector companies share data for the public good. By donating data, companies could be helping
the major issues our world faces, sometimes indirectly. For instance, the article states that data on
cell-phone location was used to determine how human travel affects the
spread of malaria in Kenya.
There’s a large range of possibilities that data can provide and I think
some people aren’t aware of its potential.
Do you guys agree that data can be this helpful or do you just see them
as irrelevant numbers? I know some
people for their core values talked about awareness and I agree that it’s an
important value to hold. If society is
unaware or ignorant of certain topics or information, then we are hindered by
what we do know. Knowledge is power and
with it comes the potential to use it for the public’s benefit.
However, data
philanthropy does bring up some issues though regarding privacy and market
competitiveness. Companies are hesitant
to share their data because they feel that they would be giving up a
competitive edge since sharing their data would allow other companies to see
their trends. In addition, the article
talks about how companies have a responsibility to keep their individual
customers’ information private. Arguably,
don’t the companies also have a responsibility to provide information that
could help save lives or the environment?
It’s possible that researchers are wasting millions of dollars on
research that private companies might already have. This is a waste of time, effort, and money. Isn’t there a way for companies to share
their information or at least the general trends without providing identities
or individual information?
I think that
this concept of data philanthropy is a really neat idea. It’s something I’ve never thought of before
and yet I can see how in the future it could be used to benefit a variety of
issues. What do you guys think about
this form of philanthropy? Is it even considered philanthropy? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages
or are there too many obstacles to overcome for this method to be utilized?
I particularly enjoyed this blogpost because you addressed another form of philanthropy that seems to be overlooked nowadays. Oftentimes when we think about research we think about science. Which then proceeds us to think, why would such a field need donations? However, having a sister who is currently pursing her PhD in molecular biology and physiology, I know how expensive certain research experiments can run. And the truth is, many times these research projects fail, but almost every time we can learn something new from each experiment, regardless of the outcome.
ReplyDeleteResearch experiments are the means by which we, as a society, can improve and expand upon our collective knowledge, whether it be on bettering health conditions, studying patterns in disease-spreading, etc. By deducing it insignificant to donate to such causes that support research, we are in a sense, discounting the importance of such studies.
So Lauren, I completely agree with you. I think it is important that we encourage individuals to give to research programs. For without these programs we would not be able to know how to solve certain issues and health problems that are prevalent in the world. As for how companies might be able to share their information without violating the privacy of individuals, I am unsure. I think I would have to think about this some more.
This form of giving to researching data is considered a form of philanthropy so long as these companies plan on using it to benefit society somehow. The advantages surely outweigh the disadvantages in both the long run and the short run.
I think that is a interesting topic and puts a new spin on philanthropy. Personally, I think that data philanthropy is a great idea and that it has the potential to do so much good for the world. Companies, even though they are private or owned by stockholders, should have some responsibility to the general public. Many corporations have a strong presence in people's everyday lives, so it should be their duty to serve those other than their shareholders and make the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that sharing of information will reduce competition. Actually, it would encourage competition. With an increase in the flow of information, the market is considered more competitive than if firms withhold information. A certain corporation might lose their edge over others but it is more competitive overall.
You bring up the question over people's private information being used. I think that in today's world, especially after the news regarding the massive NSA surveillance programs came out, that we should not be as worried about private information being used in something such as data philanthropy. Many of these companies flat-out sell your information to other companies, so why is it a problem for your information being used for the good of humanity? And if it is such a problem, which some people do understandable have, we should be investing in a way that will help solve this privacy crisis. Granted, in the short-run it will take some money away from philanthropy, but in the long-run the implications are far more beneficial for such an investment to be forgone.
As I said before, I believe that data philanthropy is a great idea. I love the story of how they were able to track malaria using cellphone patterns. I think that this should be considered a form of philanthropy since companies are "donating" the data to charities and certainly any negatives are outweighed.
Lauren, your post is compelling because it forces us to think of philanthropy as the donation of data and numbers instead of time and money.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/oreillymedia/2011/09/20/data-philanthropy-is-good-for-business/
This is an article I found that claims that data philanthropy is not only good for the general public, but also good for business. Businesses are using data collection to understand customers, identify new markets, and make financial decisions. The article talks about how data, like data from mobile phones and services, can be used for international relief and development work. Much like cell phone locations affecting the spread of malaria, MIT researchers, in the article found evidence that mobile phone calling patterns can be used to detect flu outbreaks. Also, researchers in Sweden, have used Digicel, Haiti's cell phone data to determine the movement of displaced populations after an earthquake in order to aid in the distribution of resources.
For companies, this form of philanthropy isn't seen as charity but as an opportunity for company growth and future business. With data, companies are able to provide for customers more efficiently and accurately. Data philanthropy also leads to good competition.
"The time has come for companies to recognize the importance of using their data to help the United Nations understand what is happening to the world's citizens - their customers."
I, too, agree that data philanthropy is a great idea and can be extremely beneficial to society as a whole. It has a ton of advantages, but the weaknesses of data philanthropy can be fairly deterring to companies and the people involved. However, it seems to me that these weaknesses are worth fixing and overcoming in order to make way for this new method of philanthropy.
ReplyDeleteOne weakness is that this form of philanthropy is very focused on the long-term, preparing numbers and figures to help prevent and figure out the causes of many problems. Most people would rather focus on short-term fixes, like donating food to the hungry, because solutions like these offer instant gratification. But, if we can emphasize the benefits of smart investments that could potentially cost us less money in the future, if we fix the problems and thwart them from occurring again, we can convince people to support data philanthropy.
Second, companies might be unwilling to participate in data philanthropy because they would lose their competitive edge, but if we created some sort of incentive for the companies to share, such as tax breaks, they would be far more willing to participate and share their data, which could dramatically increase the speed of progress in research.
Of course, there is the disadvantage that data philanthropy is an invasion of people's privacy, but I agree with Nick, that the government already is extremely invasive and if people knew how beneficial this method of philanthropy could be, maybe they would be less skeptical.
Overall, this seems to me like a very beneficial and proactive method of philanthropy and if we work out the kinks, it could become a leading form of philanthropy in the next few years.
Although many of you agree with me that data philanthropy should be used more, you all took different approaches and reasoning in your comments. Heaown discussed the benefits of research in science saying that no matter the outcome something can be learned or gained which I think is extremely important for people to understand.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Nick and Charlie tackled the business side. I like that they each provided reason against my article's statement that data philanthropy would hurt business's competitive edge. The next step though would be to convince businesses that overall the competition would increase for the market as a whole since businesses could all use each other's information to improve upon their own business. Even if businesses are still reluctant to give, maybe there is a way that businesses could anonymously donate data, pooling all the information into one collection. This would also solve the privacy issue as well.
Also, I like the idea that Dina said about offering tax breaks to companies that release data so that companies would be more willing. However, Dina, you also said that one weakness of data philanthropy is that it's more long-term. Wouldn't that be an advantage? Although people are easily persuaded by instant gratification, I still think people would prefer to solve the root problems. Also, releasing data is completely independent on individuals donating their time and money. So, even if individuals did prefer to donate to organizations that provided immediate relief, it would not take away from companies donating information. I see that as a good thing because data philanthropy would be an additional way of donating as oppose to a replacement.
I loved this article! I never even considered that sharing data could be a form of philanthropy, I definitely think it is a good idea. As everyone has said there are many benefits to sharing data for the greater good. Last semester I got involved with Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program (ITURP). It was started in 2008 with a focus on smoking cessation in pregnant women. Since I am pretty new to the program we have gone over the focus groups done in the beginning stages and some of the main themes were the lack of information and facts that the women had not been taught. Yes they were told by everyone that smoking is bad for you and that it isn’t healthy, but no one ever told them the benefits to quitting for both the mother and baby. While it might not directly relate to philanthropy, if information and data is shared with expectant mothers, maybe they would be more likely to quit smoking and work on creating healthier habits for themselves and their baby. It seems that sharing data and/or information collected is a brilliant idea because it really could help save and improve the lives of so many people. As shown in the article with tracking the spread of malaria in Kenya.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, the positive possibilities outway the negative outcomes. Although, there are always issues with copyrights and with our society being so sue happy it is understandable why data sharing is not a commonality. While it can help many, in order for it to work efficiently I feel like everyone would have to share their data collections and/or trends equally. It would be a difficult task to actually make this happen.
Also like many have already said, research is a major help to society and should most definitely be supported by philanthropy. Nobody can really make that decision about which issue is worse or in more need of help than others. While we must be responsible philanthropists but it all comes down what we are passionate about. And if one person is passionate about curing cancer that is important to him/her, but it doesn’t make it less important than feeding homeless people.
Very interesting article Lauren thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of data philanthropy sounds like a very great idea, but is extremely vague to me. What I find troubling is the term data itself. Data is defined as facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. So my questions then are what specific facts and statistics are being collected? Are all of these beneficial? What about conflicting data? Opposing data? Falsified data? I think the idea itself is very interesting and at its roots optimistic, but when analyzed deeper it becomes a very complex and intricate set of problems.
One of these problems that has been discussed is privacy. The argument that since their has already been a privacy breach upon American citizens by a government agency does not appeal to me. The right to privacy should be protected at all costs. Any information attained without a person's consent should not be able to be donated as data philanthropy. One, it is against the law and two, it is morally wrong because it violates a fellow human being.
Now having said this signing a contract or paying for a plane ticket my have stipulations that allow for the air line to disclose any travel information. This is perfectly okay. My issue is information attained and disclosed without personal consent.
After saying this I still believe that this sort of philanthropy is extremely cool, one, and beneficial in the long run. If this specific type of donation does not take away from potential short term donations (i.e. money, time, construction projects) then it should continue to be pursued. On the other hand, if private corporations use this specific form of donation to achieve a quota of philanthropic actions or to receive a tax break other types of philanthropic donation will certainly fall. My overall point then is, as long as traditional philanthropic donations (i.e. money, time, etc...) continue to raise or remain at a consistent level this form of philanthropy will benefit humanity.