I spend a great deal of my time dealing with issues that reside within the intersection of technology policy with social and public policy concerns. Privacy, security, and a host of other issues fall squarely into this zone. They're complex enough by themselves, but are made all the more complicated by the toxic political atmosphere with which so many important matters are now intertwined.

One particularly crucial aspect of these issues revolves around how we can responsibly handle and use of the vast amounts of data now being generated by Web activities, sensor arrays, and so many other aspects of our lives.

Powerful new analytical systems and techniques -- the whole area now popularly referred to as "Big Data" -- offer the promise of solving a vast array of critical problems in health, climate, and many other areas.

But responsibly using such data also requires dealing appropriately with related vexing issues in the realms of privacy, anonymity, user choice, and associated concerns. As usual, our public policies have lagged dramatically behind our technological capabilities.

It is with all this in mind, and in the hope of encouraging a rational approach toward this entire spectrum of issues, that I'm very pleased to announce "DWEL" - the Data Wisdom Explorers League -- founded in association with Google, which is providing funding support for this effort.

The goal of DWEL is to serve as a global resource for discussions, educational outreach, and a range of other relevant services in this essential sphere. Our efforts will focus on helping us all move toward the best possible uses of data in responsible manners for solving problems, providing services, and improving our lives and planet.

I hope that you'll consider participating.

More information is available at this posting in the Google Policy by the Numbers Blog and at the DWEL site itself:

http://www.dwel.org

See you there!

--Lauren--