Today, big data analytics is not only used for business decision-making, but also has an important influence on politics, elections and policy implementation. Big data’s influence on society, the economy and politics is far-reaching.
Herbert Chia: Hong Kong can Catch Up from behind in Big Data Race
During last year’s US presidential election, Facebook analyzed and sorted users’ voting intentions according to their personal profile and what they liked, as well as the extent and frequency of their likes and reading preferences. This approach of using big data to analyse voters’ intentions is proactive and enables political parties to more easily manage their election campaign.
Distinguish voter preferences
Taking advantage of social media’s instant feedback, US President Donald Trump analyzed what information would resonate most with people in a particular place during the election campaign, and then used these data as reference. For example, he posted three articles on bringing jobs back to the US in Kent, which won him much public attention.
Herbert Chia, Chairman of Data Hub Committee of Smart City Consortium, believes that the goal of political elections for using big data is in fact similar to that of businesses, which is to distinguish the level of user preference for the brand and use the most effective methods for advertising and promotion. “We can regard each of the candidates as a company to assess the level of support they receive, and then divide the voters into support, against and swing.”
Make it easier for businesses to make decisions
Whether it is election or commercial marketing, we need to find out the user groups and carry out appropriate promotions. From the business perspective, this is called “bench marketing”. Chia believes that election campaigning is the same: “We must find ways to make existing customers continue to give their support while attracting new customers.”
The election results showed that big data seemed to be of great help to Trump. However, Chia said outright that big data is not a panacea for all woes, and the quality of the business is still the key.
Pay attention to speed and scope of opening up
Hong Kong too has embarked on the trend of big data. In her Policy Address delivered recently, Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed accelerating the opening up of government data to provide raw data for innovation, scientific research, and development of smart cities. At present, the HKSAR Government provides over 3,100 datasets and 1,000 application programming interfaces for free use by the public.
In Chia’s view, if the HKSAR Government plays a leading role, willing to open up more data, it will help the rapid development of big data. Nevertheless, he stressed that besides speeding up, we must also pay attention to what data should be opened up. In the case of the US Government, when it plans to open up data, it will invite different sectors, especially the business community, for discussions and open up the data they are interested in. Chia said that this will prevent the decision on what data to open up from depending on the government’s subjective judgment alone, so that the data will not be left unused after they are made available to the public.
Hong Kong can catch up from behind
Chia said that Hong Kong has made great progress in big data in the past six months, and is poised to catch up with other countries or regions. “At present, the development of big data has progressed to the third stage, which is the development of artificial intelligence (AI) through big data. Hong Kong is between the second and third stages, i.e. mainly process optimization through big data. Actually, Hong Kong’s technological level can support the third stage; it is just that it lacks the funds to push forward.” He added that there are many precedents to draw on for big data technology development, so Hong Kong can avoid taking unnecessary steps, and may even catch up from behind.
The big data trend is unstoppable and the online footprints of consumers have all become part of big data. Chia stressed that as the user’s every act and every move is being observed and recorded, there may be consumer resentment or concerns about privacy protection. However, there are always both a positive and a negative side where science and technology are concerned, so we must use it with caution so as not to backfire.
Wong Kam-fai: Use Big Data, a “Double-edged Sword”, with Caution
As big data technology becomes more sophisticated, its application scope and influence spread far and wide. In addition to business and scientific research, it has even been used in political elections in Europe, the US and even Hong Kong in recent years. However, faced with information overload in the market, how can we make good use of this “razor-sharp sword” that is big data?
In recent years, AI has developed by leaps and bounds. An example is the well-known AlphaGo that has dominated the world of Go. The strength of AI stems from the support from big data. Professor Wong Kam-fai, Associate Dean (External Affairs) of the Faculty of Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: “Big data has long been widely used by business communities in the rest of the world; even the political communities are no exception. In the last two presidential elections, both Trump and Barack Obama efficiently used big data to understand voter preferences and adjusted their campaign strategies accordingly.” He foresees that the application of big data in political elections will become an irreversible global trend.
Two types of usage at political level
The relationship between big data and political elections can probably be analyzed from two levels. The first level is to predict election results with big data. MogIA, an AI system in India, is one of the best examples. Since 2004, the system has successfully collected and analyzed tens of thousands of data points on the Internet to accurately predict the results of the last three US presidential elections.
Another level is to understand voters’ thoughts and needs based on data from past elections and voters’ content on the Internet or social media in order to anticipate their response to various issues, and then adjust the campaign strategies and speeches. For example, after last year’s US presidential election, some local science and technology magazines estimated that during the election campaign, as much as 20% of election-related social media content was automatically sent by computer software.
Avoid injuries from double-edged sword
Consolidating the relevant data and analyzing them to formulate appropriate election strategies will undoubtedly help political figures or their election teams improve the odds. However, Wong noted that some people began to use underhand tactics by mixing big data with fake information to mislead the public or even attack their election opponents.
“For example, during the US election campaign, Hillary Clinton has been accused of supporting the extremist group Islamic State, but it was later confirmed that the assertion was not true.” Wong reminded politicians that they must understand the advantages and disadvantages of big data applications, as well as the impact on the entire political and social ecology. “As the saying goes: refrain from hurting others, yet guard against those trying to hurt you. Politicians must be prepared to protect themselves while making sure that the information they have is accurate and errorless.”
Be skeptical when looking at data
Faced with the massive data on the Internet, Wong pointed out that, to ensure that the information obtained is correct, apart from using the right data collection methods, we must adopt a pessimistic approach to analyze the relevant information to reduce the chance of being misled. “If we can first look at all the information skeptically, and then verify and analyze them, we will surely reduce the possibility of being misled by fake information.”
It is foreseeable that the application of big data will continue to grow as it does not hinge on geographical location and scale. Wong pointed out that Hong Kong’s Internet penetration is getting higher and the number of mobile phones per capita is now more than two. “In the next ten to twenty years, smartphones will even be widely used among the elderly. By then, information and data will even be more pervasive, so politicians and businesses should get prepared as soon as possible to master and make good use of the advantages of big data.”
