Key opportunities and challenges for the use of big data in migration research and policy

Lydia H V Franklinos; Rebecca Parrish; Rachel Burns; Andrea Caflisch; Bishawjit Mallick; Taifur Rahman; Vasileios Routsis; Ana Sebastián López; Andrew J Tatem; Robert Trigwell

doi:10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000027

Key opportunities and challenges for the use of big data in migration research and policy

UCL Open Environ. 2021 Oct 27:3:e027. doi: 10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000027. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lydia H V Franklinos^{1

2}, Rebecca Parrish^{1

3}, Rachel Burns⁴, Andrea Caflisch⁵, Bishawjit Mallick^{6

7}, Taifur Rahman^{8

9}, Vasileios Routsis¹⁰, Ana Sebastián López¹¹, Andrew J Tatem¹², Robert Trigwell¹³

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
² Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
³ Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University, London, UK.
⁴ Centre of Public Health Data Science, Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ United Nations' Displacement Tracking Matrix, International Organization for Migration, International Organization for Migration, Juba, South Sudan.
⁶ CU Population Center, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder Campus, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷ Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁸ Health Management BD Foundation, Sector 6, Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁹ Adjunct Faculty, Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
¹⁰ Department of Information Studies, University College London, London, UK.
¹¹ GMV Innovating Solutions Ltd, HQ Building, Thomson Avenue, Harwell Campus, Didcot, UK.
¹² WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
¹³ United Nations' Displacement Tracking Matrix, International Organization for Migration, United Nations, London, UK.

Abstract

Migration is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. Better data is required to improve understanding about how and why people are moving, target interventions and support evidence-based migration policy. Big data, defined as large, complex data from diverse sources, is regularly proposed as a solution to help address current gaps in knowledge. The authors participated in a workshop held in London, UK, in July 2019, that brought together experts from the United Nations (UN), humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), policy and academia to develop a better understanding of how big data could be used for migration research and policy. We identified six key areas regarding the application of big data in migration research and policy: accessing and utilising data; integrating data sources and knowledge; understanding environmental drivers of migration; improving healthcare access for migrant populations; ethical and security concerns around the use of big data; and addressing political narratives. We advocate the need for careful consideration of the challenges faced by the use of big data, as well as increased cross-disciplinary collaborations to advance the use of big data in migration research whilst safeguarding vulnerable migrant communities.

Keywords: big data; climate change; cross-disciplinary research; data security; displacement; environment; health; humanitarian; migration; policy.