United Nations Global Pulse Explained

The United Nations Global Pulse is an initiative of the United Nations that attempts to "bring real-time monitoring and prediction to development and aid programs."[1] [2] [3]

History and activities

The United Nations Global Pulse was launched in 2009 as an information initiative by the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General.[1] In August 2013, the New York Times reported that Global Pulse had its main "Pulse Lab" in New York City, with a staff of 14 there, plus a staff of 10 in their lab in Jakarta, Indonesia and 8 in their lab in Kampala, Uganda.[2] The website lists the following three objectives of the initiative:[1]

  1. Increasing the number of Big Data for Development (BD4D) innovation success cases
  2. Lowering systemic barriers to big data for development adoption and scaling
  3. Strengthening cooperation within the big data for development ecosystem

The data sources that Global Pulse has investigated include:[1]

  1. Online content: Public news stories, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, obituaries, birth announcements, job postings, e- commerce, etc.
  2. Data exhaust: Anonymized data generated through the use of services such as telecommunications, mobile banking, online search, hotline usage, transit, etc.
  3. Physical sensors - Satellite imagery, video, traffic sensors, etc.
  4. Crowdsourced reports - Information actively produced or submitted by citizens through mobile phone-based surveys, user generated maps, etc.

Global Pulse runs innovation programmes in which it partners with organizations that have access to relevant sources of big data, data analytics technologies, and data science expertise, as well as with UN agency and government ministry "problem owners" grappling with challenges that could benefit from new insights and real-time measurement tools, to discover, build and test high-potential applications of big data. Its innovation programmes focus on sectors such as food security, agriculture, employment, infectious disease, urbanization, and disaster response, as well as cross-cutting issues such as M&E and privacy protection.

The director of the initiative is Robert Kirkpatrick and the deputy director is Makena Walker.[2]

Media coverage

The United Nations Global Pulse has been discussed repeatedly in The Guardian[4] [5] [6] and Foreign Policy.[7] [8] It has also received in-depth coverage in The New York Times,[2] O'Reilly Media,[3] and United Nations Radio.[9] It has also been mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article about Teradata[10]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About. United Nations Global Pulse. June 14, 2014.
  2. News: Searching Big Data for ‘Digital Smoke Signals’. Lohr. Steve. August 8, 2013. June 14, 2014. The New York Times.
  3. Web site: A global pulse of big data, applied for good. An animated introduction to the UN's Global Pulse initiative.. February 14, 2012. June 14, 2014. O'Reilly Media.
  4. News: Big data: what is it and how can it help? Big data could change the way we see the world. This week experts have gathered in Washington DC to discuss it, these are some of the examples that came up. Burn-Murdoch. John. October 26, 2012. June 14, 2014. The Guardian.
  5. News: Dominant methods used to evaluate the impact of aid often fall short: here's why. We've been using the same model of evaluation in global development for decades. How can we ensure our data's timely?. Gopalakrishnan. Shrik. October 11, 2013. June 14, 2014. The Guardian.
  6. News: Activate 2011: Robert Kirkpatrick, director, UN Global Pulse. April 26, 2011. June 14, 2014. The Guardian.
  7. Can Big Data Stop Wars Before They Happen? Number crunching and pattern recognition may hold the key to predicting and preventing conflicts. But first, peace-builders need to change the way they do business.. Himelfarb. Sheldon. April 25, 2014. June 14, 2014. Foreign Policy.
  8. Big Data: A Short History. How we arrived at a term to describe the potential and peril of today's data deluge.. Friedman. Uri. October 8, 2012. June 14, 2014. Foreign Policy.
  9. Web site: "Digital smoke signals" used as disaster alert in Indonesia. April 12, 2014. June 14, 2014. United Nations Radio.
  10. News: Teradata Honored by The White House for Leadership in Bringing Big Data Analytics to Governments and Non-Profits. November 12, 2013. June 14, 2014. The Wall Street Journal.

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