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Can big data save lives?

Our everyday lives generate around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data according to IBM. So could we be using this daily avalanche of statistics to make our lives better?

In More or Less Ruth Alexander explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life. This week we ask - our everyday lives generate around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data according to IBM. So could we be using this daily avalanche of statistics to make our lives better? Ruth Alexander talks to Kenneth Cukier, the data editor of the Economist magazine, and co-author of Big Data – A revolution that will transform how we work live and think - about how it can be used, if it could save lives, and the darker side of big data.

(Image: A technician assembles computers Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Available now

10 minutes

Last on

Sun 24 Mar 2013 03:50GMT
BBC World Service Online

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Are there more black men in college or prison in the US?

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Broadcasts

  • Sat 23 Mar 2013 13:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sat 23 Mar 2013 23:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sun 24 Mar 2013 03:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online

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