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Please note that our syllabus has now moved and can be found on our website here:

https://www.teachingpublicservice.digital/en/syllabus-index

This page is no longer being maintained.

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<aside> 💡 See other units in the syllabus

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Data is Political

What is this page?

This is a detailed breakdown of how David Eaves, a Lecturer at the University College London's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (UCL IIPP), teaches the contents of Unit 5 of the open access syllabus developed by Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age. To read how part one of Unit 5 is taught, see here.

It is part of a series of twenty-five classes that David developed originally for the Harvard Kennedy School's master and executive education programs, where he taught for eight years, and are now taught at UCL's master and applied learning programs.

We believe presenting diverse ways to teach the syllabus will help others adopt and teach the material in a range of contexts. See here how Konstanz University's Prof Ines Mergel teaches the same unit.

Who is this page for?

This page was developed for university faculty who teach public administrators or master's levels students in public policy and public administration. This material may also be suitable for teaching to upper year undergraduates.

Class Overview

While a great deal of opportunity lies in governments' use of data to drive efficiencies and improve policy or services there are also significant risks - data can as easily be used for ill as for good. This class will first explore the different uses of data in governments and then explore ways in which data can explicitly or subtly cause governments to make choices that negatively impact those it serves. The goal is not to turn students into data experts, but rather make them realize what their responsibilities as public leaders are and which questions about the use of data they should be asking.

This Class' Learning Objectives

<aside> 📖 By the end of this class students should be able to:

• Identify the types of problems that data can be used to solve
• Recount some of the main ways and reasons that data is not successfully deployed
• Determine the feasibility of using data science to address a problem facing government agencies
• Identify the responsibilities in managing data

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How this class relates to the Digital Era Competencies

<aside> 💡 This class has a specific focus on **Competency 7 - Data.** See all eight competencies here.

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Assigned Reading and Practical Resources

As they work through the readings in advance, students should have in mind the following questions to help them prepare for class:

• The readings suggest that we already had a first data revolution in the 19th century. What new institutions and roles emerged from this first revolution? What positive and concerning lessons have we learned from the first data revolution?
• In which ways has data collection changed the role and increased the power of the state? Which types of practices, rituals or frameworks could you incorporate to your team as a checks and balances mechanism to prevent increasing coercion power?

Core Reading (Required)