Central America : Big Data in Action for Development

This report stemmed from a World Bank pilot activity to explore the potential of big data to address development challenges in Central American countries. As part of this activity we collected and analyzed a number of examples of leveraging big data for development. Because of the growing interest in this topic this report makes available to a broader audience those examples as well as the underlying conceptual framework to think about big data for development. To make effective use of big data, many practitioners emphasize the importance of beginning with a question instead of the data itself. A question clarifies the purpose of utilizing big data, whether it is for awareness, understanding, and/or forecasting. In addition, a question suggests the kinds of real-world behaviors or conditions that are of interest. These behaviors are encoded into data through some generating process which includes the media through which behavior is captured. Then various data sources are accessed, prepared, consolidated and analyzed. This ultimately gives rise to insights into the question of interest, which are implemented to effect changes in the relevant behaviors. Utilizing big data for any given endeavor requires a host of capabilities. Hardware and software capabilities are needed for interaction of data from a variety of sources in a way which is efficient and scalable. Human capabilities are needed not only to make sense of data but to ensure a question-centered approach, so that insights are actionable and relevant. To this end, cooperation between development experts as well as social scientists and computer scientists is extremely important.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, ADVERTISING, ANIMATIONS, APPLICATION PROGRAMMING, BEHAVIORS, BIBLIOGRAPHY, BOUNDARIES, BUSINESSES, CAPABILITIES, CATALOGUING, CELL PHONE, CELL PHONES, CITIES, CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT, COLLABORATION, COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES, COMMODITY, COMMUNICATION METHODS, COMMUNITIES, COMPETITORS, COMPLEX SYSTEMS, COMPLEXITY, COMPUTER SCIENCE, COMPUTER SCIENTISTS, COMPUTERS, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK, CONNECTIVITY, CONTENTS, COORDINATION MECHANISMS, COPYRIGHT, CREDIT CARD, CREDIT CARD COMPANIES, CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS, CREDIT CARDS, CRIMINAL GROUP, CUSTOMER DATA, DATA ACCESS, DATA ANALYSIS, DATA COLLECTION, DATA MODELING, DATA PROCESSING, DATA SOURCES, DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS, DECISION MAKERS, DECISION MAKING, DECISION-MAKING, DELIVERY TIMES, DISCUSSION, DOCUMENTS, E-MAIL, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EDITING, EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, EXCHANGE RATE, EXPLORATION, EXTRACTING, FILINGS, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS, FLASH, FORECASTING TECHNIQUES, FRAUD, GOVERNMENT POLICIES, GPS, GRAMMAR, HARDWARE, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPACITY, ICT, IDEA, IDEAS, IMAGE, IMAGES, IMAGINATION, IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS, INDEXES, INDICES, INFERENCE, INFORMATION EXTRACTION, INFORMATION SYSTEM, INFRARED, INFRARED DATA, INNOVATION, INSIGHTS, INSTANT MESSAGING, INSTITUTION, INTEGRATION, INTELLIGENCE, INTERFACES, INTEROPERABILITY, INTUITION, INVENTORIES, INVENTORY, KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES, LANGUAGE TRANSLATION, LEADING, LEARNING, LICENSES, LITERACY, LITERATURE, MACHINE LEARNING, MANUFACTURING, MARKETING, MARKETING STRATEGY, MATERIAL, MEDIA, METADATA, METRICS, MOBILE DEVICES, MOBILE PHONE, MOBILE PHONES, MOBILE SERVICES, MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, NATURAL RESOURCE, NECESSARY SKILLS, NETWORK DATA, NETWORKS, NUMBERS, ONLINE PRICE, ONLINE RETAILERS, OPERATING SYSTEMS, PERSONAL DATA, PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, PILOT PROJECT, PRACTITIONERS, PRICE INFORMATION, PRIVACY, PRIVACY CONCERNS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRODUCT INFORMATION, PROGRAMS, PROTOTYPE, PUBLIC OPINION, QUERIES, QUERY, RAW DATA, READING, REAL-TIME DATA, REFERENCE MATERIAL, RELATIONAL DATABASE, REPOSITORIES, RESEARCHER, RESEARCHERS, RESULT, RESULTS, RETAIL PRICES, RETAIL SALES, SAFETY ISSUES, SATELLITE, SATELLITES, SEARCH, SEARCH QUERIES, SEARCHES, SERVER, SILOS, SITES, SOCIAL NETWORKS, SOCIOECONOMIC DATA, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, SOURCES OF INFORMATION, SPEAKING, SUPPLY CHAIN, TAXONOMY, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES, TELEPHONE, TEXT, THINKING, TRANSACTION, TRANSLATING, TRANSLATION SERVICES, UCT, USER, USERS, USES, VARIETY, VIDEO, WEB, WEBSITES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/23110254/central-america-6c-big-data-action-development https://hdl.handle.net/10986/21325
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