Warwick and IBM collaborate on Big Data

Warwick University and IBM are teaming up again to make sure students are being taught the skills sought after by businesses using Big Data.

Analysing data to ensure better strategic business moves and decisions are made has become crucial for competitive businesses.

The collection and use of data in this way has ethical implications which the university and IBM think need more attention.

Since big data has reached a potential never before achieved, analysts and researchers can collect all sorts of information from the internet and databases.

Here, ethics is concerned with people’s privacy, information confidentiality, transparency of Big Data users, and protection of identity from compromise.

Researchers have to gain ‘informed consent’ about these issues from whoever they are using information, but the scope for accessing information outside this channel is complex and extensive.

For this purpose, IBM is investing £12,000 backing the development of a new module training post- graduates in the application of ethics to Big Data.

As Emma Uprichard associate professor at the University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM), and co-director of the Warwick Q-Step Centre points out: “Researchers are increasingly turning to online tools with little or no ethical guidance.

“Thanks to IBM, we will be developing online materials that can be used to develop and deliver successful training sessions in this area.”

The money was granted through the IBM Faculty Awards programme, which works to create links between leading universities’ researchers and those at IBM.

IBM research will be used to develop the three-day module focussing on the aspects of anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy.

It will mainly be offered to students from: CIM, Warwick Business School, Computer Science, Politics and International Studies, and Sociology.

Paul Martynenko, IBM’s vice-president and technical executive, Europe said: “I have no doubt that the training developed by IBM and the University of Warwick will be of great use to many businesses.”