Stefaan Verhulst is Co-Founder and Chief of Research and Development at The GovLab, New York University.
Stefan founded GovLab with the goal of strengthening the ability of institutions and people to work more openly, collaboratively, effectively, and legitimately to make better decisions and solve public problems.
Stefaan says the COVID-19 pandemic has been a watershed moment in which we’ve realised that we don’t have access to a lot of the data we need and that we need to unlock data assets that could be used to save lives. Stefaan advocates for more institutions to “publish [data] with purpose” by identifying a public interest benefit for which the data is required. Stefaan describes advances in the disciplines of formulating purpose specifications, problem specification, and question definition which requires a skillset that many policy professionals assume they have but often don’t.
Stefaan emphasises the importance of inclusivity in question formulation. Stefaan admonishes us to pursue not just data equity, but also question equity, in order that the questions for which answers are sought and metrics are developed are those that really matter to society.
Stefaan observes that power dynamics are determined by asymmetries, such as the data “haves” and the data “have nots”. Stefaan quotes Sir Francis Bacon who said, “knowledge is power” asserting that in the 21st century “data is power”. Stefaan describes a variety of data asymmetries such as between consumers and corporations, between citizens and government, and between business and government. Stefaan argues that addressing these asymmetries is essential for achieving “digital self-determination” for individuals and groups.
Stefaan acknowledges some tensions between the ideal of data sharing and reuse for public benefit, and of digital self-determination where these principles interface at the concept of privacy. Stefaan says this balance will not be easy to find but argues that with data we need to go beyond consent and aim to avoid not just misuses, but also missed uses. Stefaan believes legislation will be inadequate for arbitrating all specific circumstances, and that Data Stewards as a profession will need to be skilled in evaluating the appropriateness of the purpose and fitness of the data for sharing and empowered to do so.
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