Data extractivism for poverty alleviation and “Tech for Good”

Sign up: https://www.diis.dk/en/node/26634/

The “Tech for Good” movement promotes a range of corporate and data-driven initiatives focused on the inclusion of people who have not previously had access to services such as microinsurance, banking, and development aid. However, the inner worlds of Big Tech, credit ratings, and corporate banking are notoriously hidden from public view. The rapid expansion of Tech for Good initiatives relies on the harvesting of information on people’s social lives and relations. This information is quantified and converted into valuable data that enables financial services while also extracting financial value and speculative profits. In this seminar, three speakers will discuss this interpenetration of data extraction into public social policy and development aid and the broader implications of private firms’ current data practices and data-driven business models.

The seminar will offer insights from fieldwork in Europe, the US, and South America and offer reflections on how to access and research this “black box” of data practices and digital infrastructures despite technological complexity and companies’ nondisclosure agreements.

Speakers
Keynote: Caroline Schuster, associate professor, economic anthropology in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, National University of Australia.

Speaker: Sofie Henriksen, PhD candidate, Unit of Migration and Global Order, DIIS

Speaker: Pernille Hohnen, associate professor, the research group Artificial Intelligence and Datafied Communication, Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University

Discussant: Marie Kolling, senior researcher, Unit of Sustainable Development and Governance, DIIS

Programme
14.00 – 14.10 Coffee & tea
14.10 – 14.20 Introduction by Marie Kolling
14.20 – 14.50 Key note: “Parametric Planet: data capitalism and the dream of insuring a dying world,” Caroline Schuster
14.50 – 15.05 “Big Tech to the Rescue: The Silicon Valley visions of using ‘Tech for Good,” Sofie Henriksen
15.05 – 15.20 “Closed worlds of Open Banking: The use of Digital payments and personal data in Danish banks,” Pernille Hohnen
15.20 – 16.00 Discussion and Q&A
16.00 – 16.30 Coffee, tea & cake

Practical information
The seminar will be held in English. Participation is free of charge but registration is required via our registration form https://www.diis.dk/en/node/26634/. The video livestream will appear on this page just before the seminar starts.