Re: [rda-covid19-socialsciences] MNO data

20 May 2020
Groups audience: 

Dear all, I hope you are doing well.
I came across to this topic and I thought it could be interesting to
share it with you.
While thinking about the three objectives of the WG, I think that we
could at least mention as a recommendation that policymakers develop
mechanisms that allow access to MNO (Mobile Network operators) data in
pandemic periods, to public research entities, at least. There is a lot of
rich information in that kind of data base and extremely good insights can
be obtained with a bit of data science, especially in social sciences.
So far, the points raised in this direction in the WG document are
scarce and mainly related to data from apps, and apps related to COVID19.
While this kind of data is whiteout any doubt very useful, it is somehow
circuntancial (local, in a space-time window) as it come from apps created
during the pandemic, so there is no previous information to compare with.
In this sense, MNO data provides longitudinal information, and allows to
changes in the behaviour of people, across time and space.
I haven't saw any comment about MNO in the document, in any section. May be
we can discuss about this during the nex meeting.
Here are two reports
https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Mob...
http://digitalimpactalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DIAL_D4D-Rep...
And an example of what it's possible to do with this kind of data in
relation to COVID19
https://web.flowminder.org/
See you soon.
Best
Jorge Andrés Clarke De la Cerda
PhD in Applied Sciences

  • Claudia Bauzer Medeiros's picture

    Author: Claudia Bauzer ...

    Date: 20 May, 2020

    Hi Jorge
    This is a very nice idea, but at least in Brazil faces many legal barriers because
    of competition across the companies.
    I have seen reports of its usage from the ITU (international tel union), on
    initiatives it conducted in some African countries after the appropriate legal
    arrangements had been made.
    CLaduia

  • Iryna Kuchma's picture

    Author: Iryna Kuchma

    Date: 20 May, 2020

    Thanks Jorge, Brian and Claudia! This is our current recommendation:
    Big tech companies hold data that can help understand the pandemic better.
    Data sharing policies should facilitate data flows from data holders to the
    scientific community with the goal of protecting citizens’ rights and
    health (Askitas 2018).
    How can we make it stronger?
    And talk to you all at 12pm UTC at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86058692856,
    the agenda and notes document is here

    .
    Best wishes,
    Iryna
    On Wed, 20 May 2020 at 13:59, Claudia Bauzer Medeiros <***@***.***>
    wrote:

  • Jorge Clarke's picture

    Author: Jorge Clarke

    Date: 20 May, 2020

    Thanks you all,
    Brian: I guess I miss that part.
    Anyway, I think we should be more specific. We should use the words
    MNO (Mobile Network Operators) and Social Networks data, for example.
    Claudia: i understand the point, similar issue in Chile. However, nothing
    prevents us from give the recommendation. I'm convinced that MNO data has
    enormous impact potential in Social Sciences and in pandemic situations.
    The two documents I sent are really interesting lecture.
    Iryna: Let me think about this and get back to you.
    Best
    Jorge Andrés Clarke De la Cerda
    PhD in Applied Sciences
    On Wed, May 20, 2020 at 1:40 PM Iryna Kuchma via
    RDA-COVID19-Social-Sciences <***@***.***-groups.org>
    wrote:

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