Big, small, open and citizen-generated data are seen as important tools in achieving the 17 global goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015 for its sustainable development agenda. Activist and researcher from the development community, Melissa Ditmore, was at the UN summit and reflects on the implications for data in development for people affected by HIV/AIDS and in the context of sexual and reproductive health and rights

By Mushon Zer-Aviv, October 27, 2014

Since I first laid my cursor on Schooloscope.com it intrigued me as an exceptional case in the world of open data and information design. The chain of events that led to the site’s termination is an important story, which I believe should be chronicled and told.

“A peculiar thing have happened to me: I suddenly forgot what comes first - 7 or 8?” Danili Khrams, Sonnet

I like going to live performances; and I have noticed something that has became the norm nowadays: people waving hundreds of mobile devices in raised hands recording anything, anytime, anywhere.

What if data tells only partial truths, or if the hopes we have invested in it are false? This case study about data about sexual violence in conflict reveals the 'social production' of data; the story of where this data comes from challenges the advocacy claims and messages based on it.

From corruption-exposing to violence-predicting and dictatorship-dismantling, data is a sort of superhero capable of truth-telling and future-gazing.

Introducing a series that explores the biographies of data in advocacy through the lens of a complex social issue: violence against women.