STATE OF THE UNION:
DATA AS ENABLING TECH‽

Ralph Straumann, Ernst Basler + Partner

ralph.straumann@ebp.ch / @rastrau

What does this even mean?

DATA — from scarcity to abundance!

source — New York Times

but…

(crowdsourced) data…

… is biased

→ Oxford Internet Institute

… e.g. sexist,

→ Co.Exist

“Anecdotally, there’s more info on OpenStreetMap on strip clubs than day care centers.”

— Eddie Pickle, Boundless

→ Co.Exist

… is unexpected

→ Oxford Internet Institute

… is misrepresented

→ The Flawless Map / Truth and Beauty in Georeferenced Social Media

… and misconstrued

→ reddit

→ Shedroff (1994)

“There is no persistently objective view (...). ‘Raw Data’ is an oxymoron.”

— Lisa Gitelman, New York University

→ Digital Realism

Data ≠

source — Bonhams Auctions

DATA WORKER’S MANIFESTO

§1
Know your data!
(a.k.a. don’t do BS)

§2
If you see somebody
“not knowing their data”,
talk about it.

§3
Create and disseminate metadata.

§3b
Create and disseminate metadata.

§4
Be(friend) a specialist.

§5
Reach out
and connect
(e.g. here).

Just one
more thing:

Keep
doing 

awesome
 stuff !