Global Pulse is predicated on the understanding that today “new data” is being generated as a by-product of people’s activities at a rate that is unprecedented in human history. That deluge of passively produced data may hold insights about how, for better or worse, people’s lives are impacted by shocks like volatility in food and fuel prices.
Part of Global Pulse’s approach is learning how to...
Project Overview:
At the turn of the millennium the United Nations launched a global development framework known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Eight in total, with accompanying indicators and targets, the MDGs provided a roadmap to halve poverty worldwide by 2015.
As we near the 2015 deadline, the UN, in partnership with civil society and the private sector is undergoing a process...
This article is part of a special Global Pulse Guest Blogger Series: “Data Mining for Development: Methodological Innovations & Challenges.”
Vanessa Frias-Martinez, PhD is a scientific researcher in the Data Mining and User Modeling Group at Telefonica Research in Madrid, Spain. Her main interest is in technologies for emerging markets and sustainable development. Her research combines...
One of the biggest challenges of responding to fast-moving global crises on a human level, is that by the time governments figure out what is happening via surveys, reports and censuses -- the damage has already been done. Families fall into poverty, children are pulled from school, and the lives of the poorest are put into jeopardy.
But due to the explosion of online and mobile data (often...
How do you find indicators for changes human well-being in “big data”? How do you know which “digital signals” are relevant enough to warrant further investigation? These questions are at the core of Global Pulse’s research.
The video below, from Global Pulse’s 8 November briefing to the UN General Assembly, provides a succinct overview of five research projects we completed with our partners (...
Over the years, governments, development organizations and the private sector have invested untold billions in creating mobile phone-powered programs and services with the potential to help people lift themselves out of poverty and realize their dreams.
Wherever people are using mobile phones to access digital services and participate in development programs, they are leaving trails behind in the...