Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative 2015-2016 expenditures
THE AFFORDANCES OF BIG DATA FOR POVERTY REDUCTION ...• Datafication affects the makingof...
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THE AFFORDANCES OF BIG DATA FOR POVERTY REDUCTION: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA Silvia Masiero Lecturer in International Development School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University [email protected] Tweets @SilviaHedley 2 nd February 2017 Seminar at UNESCO Chair in ICT4D Royal Holloway, University of London
Transcript of THE AFFORDANCES OF BIG DATA FOR POVERTY REDUCTION ...• Datafication affects the makingof...
THEAFFORDANCESOFBIGDATAFORPOVERTYREDUCTION:EVIDENCEFROMINDIA
SilviaMasieroLecturerinInternationalDevelopment
SchoolofBusinessandEconomics,[email protected]@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.
