DEVELOPER – Digital Data, Infrastructures and Development

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.