How could crowd sourcing big data and access

How could “crowd sourcing”, “big data” and “access to data” improve policy-making in Hong Kong? John Bacon-Shone Director, Social Sciences Research Centre Associate Director, Knowledge Exchange Chair, Human Research Ethics Committee The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong johnbs@hku. hk http: //www. ssrc. hku. hk/ October 2015 1

Strong disclaimer: this presentation reflects my PERSONAL views, not those of HKU! October 2015 2

What are crowd sourcing, big data and access to data and how are they relevant to policy making? Crowd sourcing: Obtaining ideas from an online community Big data: data sets so large or complex that traditional methods are inadequate Access to data: data should be available to use and republish, subject to necessary confidentiality constraints, especially if publicly funded Argument: Good policy making should be evidence based and these 3 are key to obtaining and analysing necessary evidence, but each have risks 3 October 2015

Risks that need management Crowd sourcing: enables uneducated, negative feedback (see comments pages) Big data: correlation does NOT imply causation (Google flu trends) Access to data: need to understand reidentification risk (DNA and surnames) October 2015 4

Selected policy problems where more data and engagement should help Language and opportunities (combinations and locations) Employment (who stays employed and why) Crime (crime and arrestee characteristics and location) Air quality (location, height, time) October 2015 5

Language (including South Asian) combinations by age October 2015 6

Language maps for HK! October 2015 7

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Research Councils UK Principles Publicly funded research data are a public good, made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner that does not harm intellectual property (not accepted in HK!) October 2015 9

Oxford Policy 1. University recognises that accurate and retrievable research data are an essential component of any research project and necessary to verify and defend, when required, the process and outcomes of research. 1. Research data are valuable to researchers for the duration of their research, and may well have long-term value for research, teaching and for wider exploitation for the public good, by individuals, government, business and other organisations, as a project develops and after research results have been published. October 2015 10

What next? Most Hong Kong academics have no interest in archiving research data, let alone sharing and this will not change until funders require it, even if HKU has a research data management policy in place. HKSARG actively resists sharing or archiving data and reports (with notable exception of Census & Statistics & CPU). Legislators are currently focused on freedom of speech and admission policies of universities. Whether research is good value for public money has not been widely debated, but eventually universities, their public funders and government will need to explain why Hong Kong is so far behind best practice worldwide for sharing. October 2015 11

What needs to be done? • Educate policy makers about new opportunities • Require universities and government to share data & develop principles, policy and procedures that properly balance privacy/confidentiality, integrity, transparency and public good. • Build a community with trusted engagement • Build infrastructure (people, process and support) for big data October 2015 12