thinking about big data in the broad societal context
TRANSCRIPT
Thinking About Big Data in the Broad Societal Context
ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions March 4, 2015
Never Discuss Floods With Noah In the Audience
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My talk will focus on
Some issues that stand out to a scientific generalist around “big data”
The societal context for issues like “big data“
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Some general issues that stand out to a scientific generalist around “big data”
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Big Data, as a modern term, refers to the data collection and analyses that have evolved from
Database management in the 1960’s
Data warehousing in the 1970’s
Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) in the 1980’s
Enterprise resource planning and data mining in the 1990’s
Customer relationship management and business analytics in the 2000’s
Source: Chen, The Bridge, 2014
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Having to deal with large datasets has been around for decades
Astronomy data
Social science databases
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Some of the major issues are the same
Management
Curation/archiving
Manipulation
Standardizing measurements/datapoints
Data corruption
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So what’s new?
Pervasiveness of large data sets
Exponentially expanding volumes and types of data
Ability to work simultaneously with multiple and varied datasets
New technologies for working with very large data sets
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Diverse technologies are being used for analysis Data mining
Data fusion
Data integration
Image and speech recognition
Natural language processing
Machine learning
Social network analysis
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Ability to work with big datasets holds great promise in diverse domains
Complex scientific questions
Health-care
Agriculture
Environment
Commerce
National or transnational security
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But also big scientific/technical challenges
Lack of standardized measures and languages
Insufficient technologies and computing power to support big data analytics
Security of the cyber infrastructure and data repositories
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And some significant societal and individual risks
“Dual-use”
Cybersecurity
National and transnational security
Privacy and confidentiality violations
Human rights issues
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AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition Big Data and Human Rights, January 15-16, 2015
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These issues lead us to ask about the broader societal context in which the “big data” questions are imbedded
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The broader society (the public) provides
Sources of data
Receptors for products of big data analyses
Undergirds the policy context for big data and its use
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So, what is the broader societal context?
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Turbulent
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Science and technology are imbedded in every major issue of modern life
Direct component
Cause
Cure
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Some major global societal issues Environmentally sustainable development Need for renewable energy sources Information and communications technology Universal access to education Poverty and economic opportunity Technology-based manufacturing and jobs Intellectual property rights Terrorism International security Natural disasters Science and technology capacity building Vaccines and medical therapies against infectious
diseases Quality and accessibility of health care
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Corollaries:
For people to prosper in modern society, they need fundamental understanding and comfort with S&T
For nations to prosper they need Scientific capacity
National policies that reflect the best science
For science to prosper, the science-society relationship must be positive and strong
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An array of issues within science are not going so well…and negatively affect the broader (societal) climate for science
Incidents of scientific misconduct
Mistakes in scientific papers
Failures to replicate
Human subjects concerns
Animal welfare issues
Conflict of interest problems
Publishing by press release
Hyperbolic or exaggerated claims
Appearing to suppress dissenting views
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These are violations of the ethics, norms and values of our enterprise
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Even rare instances of any ethics violations tarnish the entire scientific enterprise
Likely need to crank up ethics and values training for our students
We need to be clear that we take even rare events seriously That we’re working to keep our own “house” in order
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These are factors internal to science, but…
There are also many issues at the intersection of science and the rest of society
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How the public feels about science is critical to its success We need public support
We need ready receptors for the products of our work Or why bother?
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Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Abraham Lincoln
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The relationship between science and its potential receptors isn’t so smooth right now
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People generally still respect science and technology….
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They have little understanding of what is and is not science
60% of Americans believe in extrasensory perception
47% still do not answer “true” to the statement: “Human beings developed from earlier species of animals”
41% think astrology is somewhat scientific
Science and Engineering Indicators, 2004
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Latest (Jan. 29, 2015) Pew/AAAS survey of the public’s view of science-related issues
88% of scientists think GM foods are safe to eat versus 37% of the public
89% of scientists favor using animals in research versus 47% of the public
68% of scientists say it’s safe to eat foods grown with pesticides versus 28% of the public
87% of scientists accept that climate change is mostly caused by human activity, versus 37 % of the public
98% of scientists accept evolution, versus 65% of the public
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A very scary point:
Only 54% of the public thinks American scientific achievements are among the best in the world, versus 92% of scientists
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Science-society tension can result from
Widespread misunderstanding Vaccines and autism
GMO’s
Tarnished image of science
Political or economic inconvenience Climate change
Conflict with popular or peer group beliefs
Conflict with core societal values
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Current scientific issues that abut against core values
Embryonic stem cell research
Studying “personal” topics Sex
Genetics of behavior
Teaching “Intelligent Design” versus evolution in science classrooms
Origins of the universe
Synthetic biology
Neuroscience – mind/body issues
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These kinds of disconnects and resultant tension have significant consequences
Science is less able to serve societal needs
Public support of science is undermined
Society wants to exert influence on what science is (or is not) done
The receptors for science are less receptive
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What to do about the science-society tension?
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We always feel we need more public education or communication about science
And we do
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But here’s where we need to get a bit more nuanced
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The right approach to communication depends on the goal: • Simply share the excitement
• Fulfill “broader impacts” or other outreach requirements of funding
• Garner public support of scientific research
Traditional “public communication” might well do
• Solve “problems” and reach common ground
• Work with policymakers
Need to shift to a different approach
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We often can’t just “educate” our way out of science-society tension The problem is not just lack of understanding
People do understand much of what we’re saying or want to do
They don’t like it
The conflict with their core values trumps their view of societal benefits
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We need a different strategy
Public engagement
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Communicating Communicating to the public with the public
In “public engagement” we are changing not only the style and content but also the intent of the conversation:
Monologue Dialogue
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We need to listen to the public about:
Their concerns about science and technology and their concomitants
Risks and benefits
Encroachment on human values
Their priorities among research areas
Questions they would like or need us to answer
Help frame the research agenda
And try to find common ground
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Effective public engagement is not easy
• Many scientists are not prepared to talk about their work and its implications with the public
• Listening to and respecting public concern can be difficult for scientists • It’s a learned skill
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www.aaas.org/communicatingscience
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We’ve learned some important lessons
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It’s important to get out to the public as early as possible
But do it without precipitating problems
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Differences in Communication Styles
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Only scientists are stuck with what science says
The rest of the public can disregard, deny, or distort findings With relatively little immediate consequence
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The gist of the message is all that matters
No caveats or clauses
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We need to remain the “fact people”
When scientists bring in their personal values, their credibility as scientists is compromised Leave your personal values at home
It’s unfortunate that scientists are also people
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Some “cultural” conditions for effective engagement
“Know before whom you stand”
Attend to both cognitive and emotional aspects of the issue
You need “warmth” to build relationships
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Engage with, don’t harangue, the public
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Go “Glocal”
Julia Taguena Parga, 2005
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In-person engagement works best • Group problem solving
• Hands-on exhibits or demonstrations
• Lab visits, science camps, museums
• Science fair
• Science café
• “Over the neighbor’s fence”
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Big town meetings are a loser!
To thrive in the modern societal climate, we need to
Explain what we do in clear and simple language Education
Make sure our scientific “house” is in order
Engage the public and policymakers in true dialogue about science-society and value-laden issues And do it earlier, rather than later
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We Need to Maintain Equilibrium in the Science-Society Relationship
Or both lose out!
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