Data for Societal Good: A Contextual Approach

Abstract

The history of technological innovations is replete with examples of both positive and negative societal impacts. An often-cited example is that of textile workers (referred to as Luddites) who rebelled against the machines that threatened their livelihoods as their artisans’ skilled labor was being replaced with less skilled machine workers [1] . On the other hand, a positive impact of that technology was that the machine workers could do the work with higher efficiency. It is generally the case that for successful innovations, the positives outweigh the negatives resulting in a net positive to societies. This pattern continues to repeat itself in this information age.