Yesterday, Network member Anita McGahan appeared on CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy to discuss Big Data. The show is the first half of a two-part series examining “the opportunities, the risks – and the trade-offs – as the world of Big Data relentlessly changes our lives.” Part 1 was originally recorded at May 9th at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
Joining McGahan on the panel were:
- Ashkan Soltani, an independent researcher and technologist specializing in privacy, security, and behavioural economics.
- John Weigelt, lead of Microsoft Canada’s strategic policy and technology efforts.
- Moderator Professor Stephen J. Toope, Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs.
McGahan and the other panelists discussed the current practice of big data’s use in business, relevant legal frameworks, questions of “information dominance” and platform “monopolies,” the role of the consumer in the big data ecosystem and much more.
Description of Ideas on Big Data Part 1: The Promise and the Perils of Big Data for Business, for Consumers, and for Society:
“For business, the promise of Big Data is at least as great as that of the Internet itself. Companies can now anticipate what consumers want even before we know it ourselves. As consumers, we get more of what we want, when we want it. But we must also live under constant surveillance as companies chase down the opportunities that we create for them online.”
