Data is considered “the new gold” of the 21st century. Increasingly, organizations are recognizing that data is not just a byproduct of IT, but a key resource that can inform daily practices and decision making. Moreover, data is key to the training of Machine Learning models and Artificial Intelligence. Oftentimes, data points are considered to represent objective facts. In practice, however, data always involves subjective judgements as it is constructed and reconstructed in line with an envisioned use. Unpacking such “data work” is crucial to understanding how we can effectively and responsibly implement and use data-driven solutions. With our research, we contribute to a better understanding of what “data work” entails, what tensions actors face in enacting data practices, and how this impacts the effective and responsible use and implementation of data-driven solutions such as AI.
Data Work research area
Within the Data Work research area researchers study how data sources are created and evolve over time as data specialists and related stakeholders engage in “data work”.
- On the Right Track? Studying the Use of Biometric Data to Manage People in a Sports Organisation, LA Downie, S Pachidi, M Huysman, E Hafermalz - Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023
- Resourcing with data: Unpacking the process of creating data-driven value propositions, WA Günther, MHR Mehrizi, M Huysman, F Deken… - The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2022
- Juggling Street Work and Data Work: An Ethnography of Policing and Reporting Practices, L Waardenburg, A Sergeeva, M Huysman - Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022
- Creativity in data work: case of developing training sets for machine learning, T Karacic, W Günther, AV Sergeeva, M Huysman, 37th EGOS Colloquium: Organizing for an Inclusive Society: Meanings
- Debating big data: A literature review on realizing value from big data, WA Günther, MHR Mehrizi, M Huysman, F Feldberg - The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2017
- We’Re in a Bit of a Situation: The Embodied and Material Realities of Data-Driven Work, L Waardenburg, E Hafermalz, XX ISA World Congress of Sociology (June 25-July 1, 2023)
- In Pursuit of Data: Negotiating Data Tensions Between Data Scientists and Users of AI Tools, E Van Den Boek, N Levina, A Sergeeva, Academy of Management Proceedings 2022 (1), 16942r