: Living and Communicating in a Changing Information Society: The Relevance and Impact of Big Data

Abstract

The contribution, which has been one of the two keynote speeches to the 2016 PR Trend International Conference, has aimed at pointing out the relevance and impact of Big Data for human communication. The increasing generation of enormous datasets, and with them the so-called datafication of reality, are here seen as the latest evolution of the Information Society which brings with it unprecedented opportunities and questions. They can generate new forms of economic value, but at the same time they strongly impact on fields such as data protection, privacy, social inclusion, quality of life: all issues which are strongly considered in the European vision of the Information Society. In this scenario, Universities can play a major role in contributing to the discussion about the socio-political impact of Big Data, building new skills and competences not only as to data scientists, revising professional profiles working on communication and, last but not least, discuss social, ethical and political implications of the use of Big Data.