Big Data for Social Good
The use of large scale and new, emerging sources of data to make better decisions has been increasing over the past several years. Corporations have been the first to act on this potential in industries such as search, advertising, finance, surveillance, retail, and manufacturing. At the same time, organizations focused on social good are realizing the potential as well but face several challenges as they seek to become more data driven. The biggest challenge they face is a paucity of examples and case studies on how data can be used for social good. This special issue of Big Data is targeted at tackling that challenge and focuses on highlighting some exciting and impactful examples of work that uses data for social good. The special issue is just one example of the recent surge in such efforts by the data science community. Some examples of these efforts include:
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