THEAFFORDANCESOFBIGDATAFORPOVERTYREDUCTION:EVIDENCEFROMINDIA

SilviaMasieroLecturerinInternationalDevelopment

SchoolofBusinessandEconomics,LoughboroughUniversitys.masiero@lboro.ac.ukTweets@SilviaHedley

2nd February2017SeminaratUNESCOChairinICT4D

RoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondon

PROBLEMAREA

Whatrole(s)fornewtechnologiesinstrengthening/reformingexisting

anti-povertyprogrammes?

- Anti-povertyprogrammes:socialsafetynetsaimedatachievingpovertyreduction(multipledomains)

- Increasinglycomputerised onaglobalscale

BIGDATA&POVERTYREDUCTION

• Computerisation – antecedent of big data

– “we can learn from a large body of information things that wecould not comprehend when we used only smaller amounts”(Cukier & Mayer-Schoenberger, 2013)

• Approaching“n=all”:

– Using“all”ratherthan“some”data,theproblemofsampledeterminationdisappears

– Whatdoesthisimplyforthemanagementofanti-povertyprogrammes?

DATAFICATION

• Rendering existing processes into data (Newell, 2013)– Modifyingprocessesratherthanbuildingnewones

• Acquiresaspecificmeaningwhenplacedincontextofanti-povertyprogrammecomputerisation

– Digitisesthecriticalphasesofrecognition ofbeneficiariesandassignation ofentitlements

– Convertslivedexperienceofpovertyandvulnerabilityintomachine-readabledata– transformsstate-citizenrelation

RESEARCHQUESTIONS

- Howdoesdataficationaffectthearchitectureofexistinganti-povertyprogrammes?

- Howdoesthisaffectprogrammebeneficiaries,andtheirentitlementsundersocialsafetynets?

AFFORDANCES

• Actionpossibilitiesinrelationtoacertaincontext(Gibson,1977)

– Originaldefinitioninpsychology– allactionsthatarephysicallypossible,dependingonagents’capabilities

– Functionalaffordancesvs.affordances-for-practice ininformationsystems(Zheng&Yu,2016)

• Asingle,longitudinalcasestudyconductedtoexploretheaffordancesofbigdataforpovertyreduction

THEINDIANPUBLICDISTRIBUTIONSYSTEM

• PublicDistributionSystem(PDS):mainIndianfoodsecuritynet– Centralisedprocurement,distributionthroughrationshops– Formerlyuniversal,becametargetedtobelow-poverty-linein1997

• Statesaftertargeting:collapseofPDS– Dropinusers’base- rationshopsforcedtoshutdown– Problemofleakage– ricemafiadivertinggoodstothemarket

UID/AADHAAR:DATAFICATIONOFPDS

India’sUniqueIdentificationproject– UID/Aadhaar (“foundation”)

Assignstoallthoseenrolled– onafreeandvoluntarybasis– a12-digituniqueIDnumberplusbiometricdetails

EconomicSurvey(2014-15):mainpurposeof Aadhaar isthatofsimplifyingdeliveryofsocialbenefits,eliminatingexistingleakages

UID/AADHAAR:DATAFICATIONOFPDS

TobeintegratedwithPDS:usersrecognisedatrationshopsonthebasisofAadhaarsystem

Recognitiononthebasisofbiometricdata:Aadhaarasdatafier ofIndia’santi-povertyagenda

• AffordancesofdataficationforarchitectureofPDS:

− Tacklesexclusionerror – entitledusersthatwerenotrecognisedbypaperregisterscanbeserved

− Tacklesinclusionerror – makesitimpossiblefornon-entitleduserstoaccessthesystem

− Allowstofightricemafiathroughmonitoringofthesupplychain–preventsmisappropriation ofgoodsbyrationdealers

• Potentialissues:technicalfeasibility,datasecurity,adaptation

− Technicalratherthanpoliticallyembedded:benefitsseemdeeperandmoreenduringthanpotentialrisks

PERSPECTIVESONAFFORDANCES- 1:TECHNICALRATIONALITY

• Dataficationimpliesdeeptransformation ofthePDS− Aadhaar:integratedwithbankaccountsandmobiletechnologies–

JAMtrinity(JanDhanYojana,Aadhaar,mobilephones)

• SetsstagetosubstitutePDSwithacashtransferssystem− Beneficiarynarratives:anxietyandfearfortransformation(feasibility,

outsourcingofmainfoodsecuritysystemtothemarket)

PERSPECTIVESONAFFORDANCES- 2:POLITICALEMBEDDEDNESS

DATAFICATIONASPOLITICALLYEMBEDDED

• Embeddedinaspecificreform ofsocialprotection− “Technologycarriespolicy”:dataficationasmeanstotransformtheexisting

anti-povertysystemintoacashtransfersprogramme

• Visionreinforcedbypresent-daymonetarypolicy– Demonetisation:Aadhaarascentraltothenewcashlesseconomy

CONCLUSION

• Dataficationaffectsthemaking ofanti-povertypolicy,andmayleadtoradicalreformofanti-povertysystems

• But:riskof“disappearance”ofpoliticalembeddedness– Needfocusonthepolicyagendasarounddatafication– Needtoconceptualisetheireffectsontheentitlements receivedby

beneficiariesofpovertyreductionschemes.

THANKYOU!

Email:s.masiero@lboro.ac.ukTwitter:@SilviaHedley

Academia:http://lboro.academia.edu/silviamasiero