The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures and Their Consequences by Rob Kitchin

by Rob Kitchin

"Carefully distinguishing between big data and open data, and exploring various data infrastructures, Kitchin vividly illustrates how the data landscape is rapidly changing and calls for a revolution in how we think about data." - Evelyn Ruppert, Goldsmiths, University of London "Deconstructs the hype around the 'data revolution' to carefully guide us through the histories and the futures of 'big data.' The book skilfully engages with debates from across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences in order to produce a critical account of how data are enmeshed into enormous social, economic, and political changes that are taking place." - Mark Graham, University of Oxford Traditionally, data has been a scarce commodity which, given its value, has been either jealously guarded or expensively traded. In recent years, technological developments and political lobbying have turned this position on its head. Data now flow as a deep and wide torrent, are low in cost and supported by robust infrastructures, and are increasingly open and accessible. A data revolution is underway, one that is already reshaping how knowledge is produced, business conducted, and governance enacted, as well as raising many questions concerning surveillance, privacy, security, profiling, social sorting, and intellectual property rights. In contrast to the hype and hubris of much media and business coverage, The Data Revolution provides a synoptic and critical analysis of the emerging data landscape. Accessible in style, the book provides: A synoptic overview of big data, open data and data infrastructures An introduction to thinking conceptually about data, data infrastructures, data analytics and data markets Acritical discussion of the technical shortcomings and the social, political and ethical consequences of the data revolution An analysis of the implications of the data revolution to academic, business and government practices

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Read For School, Economics, School

Unknown Binding

First published August 18, 2014

About the author

I'm a professor at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and the author or editor of 28 academic books and a 12 volume encyclopedia, and author of four crime novels and two collections of short stories. My passions are reading and writing crime fiction and undertaking research on social issues. I contribute to three blogs: The View From the Blue House, Ireland After NAMA, and The Programmable City.

Reviews

[Rosie]

I don't know why I ever gave books a star rating on this site. Is there a greater paragon of late, quantifying capitalism than the reduction of whole books to a star rating? At first, I told myself it was a way to keep track of what I'd read, what I'd enjoyed. But of course that's not how this works. Of course, when you rate a book out of five you prune its innumerable dimensions to just one. You tell the world: this book is good, or not.

This year, instead, I'll try to write (short) reviews of what I've read - what I enjoyed about the book and why. What was problematic and how it relates to other books, articles and chapters I'm read or am reading. Here goes nothing.

One of the jobs I have at the moment is based in a university department that focuses on the sociology, anthropology and political economy of medical science and health technologies. We have a reading group, every fortnight or so, and usually we read established STS (science and technology studies) journal articles in light of contemporary challenges and political economy, or new, controversial texts from the field's leading lights. Over Christmas, however, we chose to read Kitchin's The Data Revolution, already a classic in data studies, though it was only published in 2014.

I first came across Kitchin's work a few years ago, while working in data policy and advocacy at a patient representative organization, and then - when I was very new to the world of data and digital infrastructures - it served as an excellent, introductory guide to the promises and pitfalls of our brave new all-seeing, all-surveiling, all-innovating world. And that is Kitchin's primary aim in the text: to offer a nuanced, impartial overview of concepts, frameworks and paradigms through which to understand big data, open data and their infrastructures.

Returning to the text now, ever-so-slightly the wiser about the issues Kitchin discusses, the book acts much like literature on formulating a research question or introductory statistics; worth revisiting for the reminder of the foundations on which some of your thinking is, could, or should be built. It strips down the language and terminology so freely thrown about and confused by not only policy wonks, politicians and media pundits, but also technology scholars and technologists. Careful definitions are carved out from the dialect of the data geeks - though this seems, at times, a little forced and rigid.

As with every book that attempts to do the impossible - to provide a 'neutral' version of events - the text has some flaws that are glaring in light of events and debates that have happened in the years since its publication. Crucially, the text makes assumptions about how value is created in data and digital infrastructures. Labour is alleged to be given 'for free' by internet users and hackers and whoever else interacts with digital infrastructures - that is to say, all of us. The saturated debate around labour theories of value and 'digital labour' already feel old, but of course the most well known contributions to the topic (Srnicek, Fuchs, Dewart McEwan etc.) are in fact not, at all. Discussions on the topic were in their primacy, relatively, when Kitchin wrote The Data Revolution. I would suggest that a future edition could dedicate an entire chapter to labour and value creation in data.

One final thing I found pleasantly surprising was Kitchin's handling of the issues around open data, which in my experience too often remain under the rug at conferences, workshops and policy discussions on the uses and abuses of data. In the four/five years since I first read the book and became interested in the issues it raises, I have encountered Kitchin's wider work as an open data advocate, promoting greater access to both government- and business-sector data. Though his position has by no means remained uncompromising in that time, I nonetheless expected that in 2014 - when the open data movement in the UK and Ireland was truly alive and kicking - his overview of open data might be anything but balanced. I was wrong. He dedicated entire sections to business enclosure of government-sector data (though it was not couched in those terms), frequently citing one of my favourite scholars on the political economy of data, Dr Jo Bates, as well as of privacy and ethical concerns around increasing access to government data. I would have liked more discussion on data ownership and democratization of digital infrastructures, but overall it was a 'good' read. Five stars.

[Joel Gn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem with writings about big data is the polarisation of views on the shelf. Some - particularly those supported by government agencies and tech corporations - are full of promise, while others are more critical and repetitive about the inequities of data-driven technologies. In 11 well-structured chapters, Kitchin steers a balanced and nuanced course on the various implications of the data revolution, by consistently arguing for both conceptual reflection and empirical analysis in the management of this rapidly evolving (and some would say, automated) landscape. The result is a comprehensive and accessible commentary on the problems and possibilities of an entity that is inexorably playing a greater role in our decision-making and understanding of the world. Highly recommended for academics, policymakers, technologists and anyone involved or interested in the field.

[Britta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing about topics like these is always difficult since there will be (massive) changes in just a matter of hours, days or weeks. The book is very clear and easy to understand. A good and insightful read.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the technical discussions around data infrastructures at the beginning made the read a bit cumbersome, but overall the discussion is balanced between overly-optimistic boosterism and fear-mongering "Big Brother" concerns. Kitchin effectively surveys what research has been done already and points to gaps in the literature.

[Brian Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book I've read on data.

[Chase B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my Database Design class. Pretty eye-opening stuff that has only become more relevant with current advances of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

[Sheena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and informative overview of how data is acquired and its potential impacts on a wide range of fields in the future. It's a fairly dense read but it taught me a lot. It also led me to a lot of deep contemplative moments about the future of data and privacy and so on. It seemed like he could predict the thoughts I was mulling over, because soon afterwards he would address them. It made the book feel almost like a conversation. Also, the order of chapters was well laid out and that he did a great job of interweaving his ideas.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rob Kitchin erläutert in diesem Buch auf eine sehr detaillierte und analytische Weise die bereits passierende "Data Revolution". Er zeigt sowhl Vorteile auf, aber gibt auch sehr viele Anregungen zu philosophischen Betrachtungen.
Für Interessierte in Big Data und deren Philosophie auf jedenfall ein must-have.

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the big data trend put a lot of emphasis on data analysis, too little emphasis has been put on the philosophy behind it. This book provides much needed philosophical discussions about data.
It's a great reference on the abilities and limitations of data, and contains many ideas for future business/government initiatives on how to fill in the gaps of the data revolution.

[Travis Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potentially my new religious text.