DEVELOPER – Digital Data, Infrastructures and Development
About project
Abbreviation: DEVELOPER
Project Coordinator: IRMO
Funding: Croatian Science Foundation
Duration: 31.12.2023. – 30.12.2027.
CroRIS web page: https://www.croris.hr/projekti/projekt/9306
Project collaborators
Paško Bilić, PhD, project coordinator
Krešimir Krolo, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Zadar
Tomislav Medak, PhD, Multimedia Institute, Zagreb
Iva Nenadić, PhD, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb
Antonija Petričušić, PhD, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
Jaka Primorac, PhD, Institute for Development and International Relations
Toni Prug, PhD, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka
Ivan Puzek, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Zadar
Mislav Žitko, PhD, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Tanja Vučković Juroš, PhD, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Valentina Vučković, PhD, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb
Digital data circulated through internet platforms, smartphones, and other devices have become the source of intense commercial activity and public infrastructure advancement in developed countries. Data is an essential input for algorithms, enabling the construction of artificial intelligence with the help of machine learning and natural language processing while replacing manual, time-consuming data management and providing new analytical insights. As more data becomes available in digital formats, it is often said to be the driver of economic growth and well-being. However, economic and social development is not a straightforward implementation of computational techniques but a process dependent on multiple social factors. Understanding the role of data in society has been the focus of intense debate in infrastructure studies, critical data studies, and platform studies. The DEVELOPER project will provide an interdisciplinary social science analysis. It aims to examine the role of digital data in society at the level of institutions (law and markets), organizations (private and public), and the everyday life of citizens. It moves away from utopian or dystopian visions of (big) data and empirically explores factors that foster or hinder the development of data infrastructures, including their role in producing private and public wealth. The Project follows an exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods research design to understand norms, values, experiences, and practices attributed to digital data and data infrastructures. It will advance knowledge in the scientific community and provide a better understanding of data infrastructures in the post-socialist economic periphery of the European Union. Assessments based on empirical research will further develop strategic plans outlined by the European Commission and the Croatian National Development Strategy, foster regulatory oversight, improve organizational and working conditions, and include citizens in digital services.
News
The meeting of the HRZZ DEVELOPER project
On September 11, a meeting of the HRZZ project "Digital Data, Infrastructure and Development" (DEVELOPER) was held in the Institute’s library. The meeting focused on key theoretical and developmental concepts. Preliminary results of conducted interviews and document...
First results of the HRZZ DEVELOPER project published
Paško Bilić, principal investigator of the HRZZ project "Data, infrastructures and development" (DEVELOPER) and Mislav Žitko, project member, published the Online First article entitled "Personal data as pseudo-property: between commodification and assetisation". The...