We live in a world that is increasingly alive with sensors and data. The big data, sensor networks and transparency movements have left us with a glut of potentially useful free data that is lying fallow. How can we use this to improve life, local community, and the world at large? People and devices collect and share data both passively�monitoring environmental change�and actively�explicitly capturing and sharing information, combining data with other information, and using in unexpected ways. Today, we are only starting to understand how best to put this data to work to improve our lives and the world around us. How might data�particularly information that makes civic society run, like bus schedules, election cycles, political information, first-hand reporting, volunteer logistics, and sporting and media events�make for a better and more community-oriented place to live? How might this data help us understand the past and present and predict the future with more precision, and how might an individual�s personal data be used to help filter and make information more relevant in different contexts or situations? What are key problems this data can be used to help solve, what new troubles can we anticipate it creates?
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