Flowminder started as an academic research project in 2009 but has evolved into providing policy and operational support for the UN and development agencies. The article "Data responsibility: a new social good for the information age” (Huffington Post, 24 Oct 2016) highlights the fact that data can can help to limit the destruction caused by natural disasters, and uses Flowminder as example. 

"Shortly after the earthquake in Nepal 2015, Ncell (Nepal’s largest mobile network operator) decided to share its mobile data with the the non-profit Swedish organisation, Flowminder. Flowminder then used this data to map population movements around the country, and these real-time maps allowed the government and humanitarian organisations to better target aid and relief, maximising the impact of their efforts. The initiative has been widely lauded as a model for data collaboration."

The article also points out the big possibilities in the research area of data for development. "According to recent estimates, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day; nine-tenths of the data we have today was created in just the two years preceding 2015. This data explosion has generated considerable enthusiasm for its potential economic, cultural and political benefits.”

"Data responsibility - and corporate data sharing - is an emerging concept, still in development.”

Data responsibility and the use of public and private data sources in support of the SDGs is one of Erik Wetter’s research themes at Misum.

 Read the full article here.