TY - JOUR
T1 - Bigger data, less wisdom
T2 - the need for more inclusive collective intelligence in social service provision
AU - Fink, Alexander
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Social service organizations have long used data in their efforts to support people in need for the purposes of advocacy, tracking, and intervention. Increasingly, such organizations are joining forces to provide wrap-around services to clients in order to “move the needle” on intractable social problems. Groups using these strategies, called Collective Impact, develop shared metrics to guide their work, sharing data, finances, infrastructure, and services. A major emphasis of these efforts is on tracking clients and measuring impacts. This study explores a particular type of Collective Impact strategy called Promise Neighborhoods. Based on a federal grant program, these initiatives attempt to close the achievement gap in particular geographic communities. Through an analysis of publicly available documents and information, the study analyzes the ways these strategies enact (and fail to enact) a collective intelligence for the common good. The analysis focuses specifically on issues surrounding data collection and use, youth agency, leadership and governance, and funding streams. Together, these foci develop a story of an increasingly used “intelligence” with a limited sense of “collective” and a narrow vision of a “common good.” Using this as a platform, the paper explores alternatives that might develop more robust practices around these concepts.
AB - Social service organizations have long used data in their efforts to support people in need for the purposes of advocacy, tracking, and intervention. Increasingly, such organizations are joining forces to provide wrap-around services to clients in order to “move the needle” on intractable social problems. Groups using these strategies, called Collective Impact, develop shared metrics to guide their work, sharing data, finances, infrastructure, and services. A major emphasis of these efforts is on tracking clients and measuring impacts. This study explores a particular type of Collective Impact strategy called Promise Neighborhoods. Based on a federal grant program, these initiatives attempt to close the achievement gap in particular geographic communities. Through an analysis of publicly available documents and information, the study analyzes the ways these strategies enact (and fail to enact) a collective intelligence for the common good. The analysis focuses specifically on issues surrounding data collection and use, youth agency, leadership and governance, and funding streams. Together, these foci develop a story of an increasingly used “intelligence” with a limited sense of “collective” and a narrow vision of a “common good.” Using this as a platform, the paper explores alternatives that might develop more robust practices around these concepts.
KW - Collective impact
KW - Community development
KW - Data
KW - Education
KW - Measurement
KW - Promise neighborhood
KW - Social change
KW - Social justice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85017242717&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85017242717&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00146-017-0719-2
DO - 10.1007/s00146-017-0719-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85017242717
VL - 33
SP - 61
EP - 70
JO - AI and Society
JF - AI and Society
SN - 0951-5666
IS - 1
ER -