Data Revolution

摘要

The amount of data that humankind has gathered and stored over the past few decades is mindboggling. So too is the amount that is added every day, and every minute even - and the speed and volumes are only increasing. Just think of all the satellites up there in orbit, continually adding new imagery to the existing pile. Not to mention all the drones flying over locations that were previously inaccessible, or the terrestrial laser scanners capturing up-to-date 'pictures' of all kinds of buildings and infrastructure, historic monuments and archaeological or agricultural sites. Add to that all the data that is collected, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by citizens using mobile phones or the internet all over the globe. The sheer size of the total, disconnected bulk of data is simply staggering. And the devil is in the disconnection, because what if we could connect all that data together for the betterment of the world? That idea is at the core of the data revolution which UN secretary general Ban-ki Moon called for in 2013. He sees that the availability of qualitative and accessible data could support sustainable development, and therefore believes that a data revolution should dictate the UN's Post-2015 Development Agenda, replacing the Millennium Development Goals as a tool for reducing poverty and increasing sustainable welfare all over the world. Just a few months ago, a group of experts convened at the UN in New York for the first time to discuss how to put the plan for a data revolution into action.