Big Data and Society 2015 - COMM3409

Examines what the data generated by and about us do, how they are used, who owns them, and if and when linked, filtered through algorithms, search engines or visualized into maps, how they determine actions and material outcomes.

Course presentations include:
Week 1 - Introduction - Counting
Week 2 - Big Data
Week 3 - Small Data – Census, Administrative data and Mapping
Week 4 - Sorting – Forms, loyalty cards, classification and geodemographics
Week 5 - Prediction - Credit, Policing, Algorithmic Governance
Week 6 - Sensors – Wearables, LBS, IoT/UbiComp/Smart City
Week 7 - Earth Observation – Satellites, Radar, GNSS – GPS/Galileo and UAVs/Drones
Week 8 - User Generated Content - Citizen Science, Crowdsourcing & Volunteered Geographic Information
Week 9 - Data-Based Activism
Week 10 - Command and Control - Indicators, Benchmarks, Dashboards and Control Rooms
Week 11 - Data as Cultural Artifacts and Remembering - Portals, Library Databases and Archives
Week 12 - Critical Data Studies
Week 13 - Making Sense of it all and Review