DATA DRIVEN LIFE COACH: GUIDING AND CONTROLLING OUR DATA TO BETTER BENEFIT US AND SOCIETY

ABSTRACT

A large majority of Big Data and Analytics projects focus on getting people to do what other people want them to do. Most often, this is done in secretive ways. In other cases, we see various groups that, either as a service or while perhaps still making a profit, use data in ways that largely help them achieve their own goals strictly for their own benefit. Will the future data world be dominated by those using our data to control and manipulate us and enrich themselves, or will it be filled with organizations and individuals, which we call “data coaches”, using the knowledge and data the world generates to improve ourselves. We posit that the world’s future would be much brighter if it included more data coaches. Unfortunately, the dominant business models of today tend to favor the more self serving analytics and data practices. To help balance this inequity, we propose a conceptual model of a “Data Driven Life Coach” that would build a more enriching and fulfilling future for citizens of a future world filled with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms built using the data gathered on an individual.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joseph Cazier

Joseph Cazier, Ph.D, CAP is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Analytics Research and Education (CARE) at Appalachian State University. Joseph is a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) by INFORMS and also holds several other certifications from SAS. In addition to peer reviewed journals articles published in Information and Management, Communications of the Association of Information Systems, Information Systems Frontiers, Association for Computing Machinery and many others, he writes a monthly analytics outreach article for beekeepers in Bee Culture. Previously Joseph served as the University of North Carolina System Fellow for Technology and Analytics. Currently Joseph also serves as the Chief Analytics Officer for Blowing Rock Software.

Max Rünzel

Max Allan Siegfried Rünzel, M.Sc. M.A. is an Associate Research Fellow with the Center for Analytics Research and Education at Appalachian State University, North Carolina and a Value Chain Specialist focusing on Blockchain Technologies with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) After obtaining his Bachelor in Economics from Humboldt University, Max has worked for the Swedish Trade and Invest Council and obtained his Master in Rural Development (M.Sc.) from a joint European Programme (Erasmus Mundus) offered by Ghent University, Belgium, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, and the University of Pisa, Italy, among others. He obtained his degree in Food and Resource Economics (M.A.) from the Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Max is planning to commence his doctorate studies in 2020.

Ryan LaBrie

Ryan C. LaBrie, Ph.D. is a Professor of Management and Information Systems in the School of Business, Government, & Economics at Seattle Pacific University. Dr. LaBrie received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Prior to entering academia Ryan spent ten years with the Microsoft Corporation in a number of different capacities ending his time as a Program Manager in the Enterprise Knowledge Management group. His current research interests include information ethics, knowledge management, and the development of the information systems discipline. Dr. LaBrie has published in the Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Management Systems, International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, Measuring Business Excellence, Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management, and the Encyclopedia of Information Ethics & Security, among others. Ryan teaches courses in database management, knowledge management, data mining, and data visualization. He has presented seminars or taught courses in over a dozen countries. Dr. LaBrie is also a co-founder and the Chief Data Scientist for UpperAnalytics.com.

Gerhard Steinke

Gerhard H. Steinke, Ph.D. is a Professor of Management and Information Systems in the School of Business, Government and Economics at Seattle Pacific University. He completed his doctoral work at the University of Passau in Germany. He has taught courses in various areas of Information Systems Management, Information Security, IS Project Management, IT Governance and Healthcare Informatics, as well as Privacy, Legal and Ethical issues at Seattle Pacific University since 1992. He has published in the Communications of the International Information Management Association, Journal of Information Privacy & Security, Journal of International Technology and Information Management, Journal of Industrial Management and Data Systems, Telematics and Informatics Journal, Science and Engineering Ethics, Journal of Teaching in International Business, Journal of Computer Information Systems, and Hong Kong Computer Journal. Current research interests are in the areas of information security, ethics, privacy and software quality. In addition, he has consulted for organizations such as Boeing, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, and the State of Washington.  He has provided seminars not only in the US, but also in Mexico, Malaysia, and Romania.