Masters of Big Data: Concentration of Power Over Digital Information

15 Pages Posted: 30 Apr 2012

See all articles by Alessandro Mantelero

Alessandro Mantelero

Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Management and Production Engineering

Date Written: February 15, 2012

Abstract

In our society, information has assumed a fundamental role in every decisional and social process. Governments and big private companies collect huge amounts of data that represent a strategic and economically relevant asset. The predictive relevance of big data management and the global dimension of this phenomenon has led us to reflect on the nature and the dynamics of a centralized power held by only a few subjects. The increasing power that derives from big data necessitates the adoption of adequate remedies to control and limit the information asymmetries and their consequences in terms of economic advantages and social control. From this perspective it is important to adopt adequate measures to control those who have this power, in order to limit possible abuse and illegitimate advantages, and, at the same time, to increase access to information, in order to spread informational power.

Keywords: big data, information age, informational power, data collection

JEL Classification: K1, K10

Suggested Citation

Mantelero, Alessandro, Masters of Big Data: Concentration of Power Over Digital Information (February 15, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2048236 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2048236

Alessandro Mantelero (Contact Author)

Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Management and Production Engineering ( email )

Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24
Torino, 10129
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero/

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
605
Abstract Views
3,596
Rank
81,960
PlumX Metrics