Big data for development : from information- to knowledge societies

Pre-published versionThe article reviews existing literature and related evidence to obtain a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in making the Big Data Analysis paradigm work for development. All the well-known caveats of the Big Data debate, such as privacy concerns, interoperability challenges, and the almighty power of imperfect algorithms, are aggravated in developing countries by long-standing development challenges such as lack of technological infrastructure and economic and human resource scarcity. This has the potential to result in a new kind of digital divide: a divide in data-based knowledge to inform intelligent decision-making