The Future Is No Longer About Data Revolution But Its Security

The thrill among the world leaders and policymakers as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comes to an end on September 15 2015, is how to actualise Data Revolution for the grasp of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which takes effect by 2016 for all citizens of the world to acquire knowledge and information by 2030.

From America to Africa, from United Kingdom to United Arab Emirates, conferences are being held as the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon last year formed and assigned an assemblage of Independent Advisory Expert Group (IAEG) with the duty to look into profitable ways to arrest and make the agenda a success.

What this means is that philosophers, journalists, scholars, partisans, politicians and many others are looking for the merits and demerits of Data Revolution for Development; looking for ways to sensitise global publics on how to do away with untenable products and services, policies and behaviours.

Digging into this initiative, the leaders in Africa gathered in Addis Ababa on July 15 this year to carve a niche for the continent on the advantageous ways to tap into the Data Revolution initiative and apply same for developmental progress of their continent’s future.

Beyond Data Revolution
It is believed that the UN has to itemise elucidations on each of the SDGs, making all data open that would be shared across all divides. Specialists are worried that employees across all divides are in dearth of numerical prowess.

There is a suggestion that there should be a concentrated and incessant government effort to educate the governed with quantitative numerical education in schools and overhaul school curricula across the globe.

Robert David Steele Vivas, a public intelligence investigator, conversely, suggests that the world is measuring five stages of failure, as was relayed in the voice of Dmitry Orlov – financial, commercial, political, social, and cultural. Especially, in this season that the UN has made a god of data to check the world’s today and future progress.

Professionals are, however, of the opinion that the move by the UN is not bad, but the failures have to be addressed. Vivas adds: “This approach – pro-active and centered on ethical evidence-based decision-support – could – if implemented within the UN with a fraction of the promised funding for the SDGs – mobilise vastly greater resources; speed implementation of the seventeen SDGs, and therefore support the mission of the UN and its Member States in a manner much more effective than now possible.”

Ethical and societal impact
There are consequences right now that in any situation, the data that will be provided by Agency A, will be different from the result of Agency B.

A professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, Tony Prescott, in a public presentation in 2013, says, "There is a huge amount of knowledge now that doctors can potentially have. Obviously they can't absorb all of it and they can't necessarily remember all of it."

Analyses are that there are data for medical experts that could examine and give positive results faster on the health of a patient, but the side effects are inevitable.

Many Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are worried that in the Data Revolution privacy and security may not be guaranteed since many of the intelligence reports will be divulged through the internet.

Prescott is worried if human race, because of the zest to attain improved services, especially in the healthcare, will want to abdicate some of its privacy.

The fear heightens that many of the data cannot be trusted, because of the quarter or person it’s coming from. For example, there is a fear that as computers and technologies are modified on daily basis, it is not certain to trust a data.

The Guardian Newspapers Education correspondent, Sally Weale on Thursday 25 June 2015, reports, "The government has been urged to tackle a numeracy crisis in the UK, which experts are warning threatens to hold the country back in the face of a global data revolution."

Innovation
Investigation reveals that without "Data Innovation", “Data Revolution" is unrealisable. This is hinged on the fact that governance varies from country to another, so also, will the data of a country vary from the other.

This issue excludes no country or continent. There are more questions than answers to a successful checking and assessment of this accomplishment.

A social analyst, Lanre Rotimi, commenting of UN Data Revolution, says, “There is urgent need to fully understand the Sociology and Psychology of Community: Neighborhood to Global Leaders on both Developed and developing Countries sides as basis for understanding what is needed to effectively Change their Thinking and Strengthen them to effectively Promote and Protect Attitude and Behaviour required to achieve increasing convergence between Data Revolution and related Revolutions Vision Intention and Reality.”

It is believed by Vivas that the UN can achieve the Data Revolution initiative if only it can light-up true costs, educate the public, send corruption on errand, and complement field effect.

“The reality is that the Specialized Agencies (SA) and their information stove-pipes as well as their human networks are far removed from useful access and exploitation by the core elements of the UN responsive to the Secretary-General,” Vivas says.

An Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report suggests that since information is scarce in three areas: early childhood development and readiness to learn, diverse learning outcomes at primary and secondary education, and skills and competencies for youth and adults, including literacy, the UN must be ready to fill these data gap.

Odimegwu Onwumere is a Poet/Writer; he writes from Rivers State.

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