• Human development has been described by Selim Jahan (head of the UNDP program) as “development of the people (capital), for the people (translated to the lives of people) and by the people (people are not only receiving but active participant in the process).” How have we done as a humanity to fulfill this hope originally manifested through the Gettysburg address? Does data science have a role to play in advancing the human condition? What role does complexity play in advancing our understanding of global human development processes and their multitude of dimensions? In order to predict valuable solutions to some of the world’s most intractable problems, will combined domain expertise from the perspective of computer science & statistics with global human development be sufficient, or is a new integrated paradigm needed? What hope do we have in selecting the best future path for humanity?

  Humankind has been able to develop and improve the quality of life over the years. The improving quality of education, technology, and healthcare are some clear examples of how we as humans are finding more and more ways to improve our lives. However, this is a very general statement, and the reality is that the progression of human development is not equivalent. In Hans Rosling’s TEDx talk, he discusses how the economies of countries across the globe were trending in a positive direction. It was the rate at which countries were improving that was concerning, as some were simply unable to develop as quickly. What is the reason for some countries to be able to develop faster, or at all?

  Through data science, we are able to have a greater understanding of the status and conditions of people and areas. Then, by having a greater understanding, we are able to come up with solutions to situations that involve “unfreedoms”, essentially limitations to the qualities of life for a person. In this way, data science plays a very large role in advancing the human condition. However, data science is not perfect. As noted in Joshua Blumenstock’s article, “Don’t forget people in the use of big data for development”, there are several issues with the use of data science itself that we have yet to resolve. For example, oftentimes research is susceptible to bias, where under represented groups are marginalized and suffer. There is also the issue of misrepresented groups, where data can inaccurately portray a group of people as having some particular trait or numbers associated with them that leads to ineffective solutions. Nevertheless, data science is still useful in comprehending the world around us and is something that we will continue to improve upon in order to improve our own qualities of life.

  In the audio lecture by Owen Barder, “Development and Complexity”, Barder goes over several economic models from the past, explaining their inner workings and flaws. He mentions the Harrod-Domar model, which takes into account the capital and labor of a country to determine the output of that country. Another economic model was the Washington Consensus, which looks at the policies in place to see if they can be improved for the growth of the economy. Barder goes through several economic models, all of which fall short. The consistent theme is that as time goes on, economic models are deemed as inaccurate as more and more factors are considered that were not prior. The constant evolving nature of economic models in order for us to understand is indicative of how extremely complex global human development processes can be, and how little we still understand. Amartya Sen’s book, Development as Freedom, also discusses the complexity of human development and the difficulty of understanding how some countries are able to advance faster than others. Sen uses the comparison between China and India in their efforts to become a more international market economy as an example. China has seen drastically higher levels of success as opposed to India who has seen much more limited growth. Sen points to the fact that China had a much better education system, where citizens were able to take advantage of the opportunities of a market economy, as opposed to India where the citizens had a much lower literacy rate and subsequently were unable to use the market system to its full potential. There were other differences in factors such as healthcare and social standings that led to the dramatic difference in success. As shown in the continuous developments of economic models and the different levels of success and growth between China and India, there are many components and influencing factors involved in global human development processes. As time progresses we will learn and understand more, at the same time producing better ideas and providing better solutions based on our improving knowledge of the many parts at play.

  Blumenstock writes in his article several methods that he believes will provide better solutions through the use of data science. One of his suggestions was to ensure that algorithms that are being used are adaptable in order to be more effective. This ties back to the point made earlier in that human development is extremely complex and we as humans are continuing to learn and understand more about human development and all that influences it. By utilizing algorithms that are able to be flexible, we will be more prepared to accurately understand situations and determine strong solutions. Blumenstock also discusses the importance of collaborative efforts of people with a wide variety of strengths and expertise, which I fully agree with. By combining efforts, humans will be able to get the best out of everyone and ultimately reach a more conclusive and perceptive solution. I think that the world has not yet been able to support full collaboration and unity in researching and developing answers to some of our biggest issues, so I would say there is still much potential. As for the best path for humanity moving forward, we should continue to use and evaluate data science while heavily focusing on improving our comprehension of the complex nature of human development and emphasizing global cooperation and teamwork.