We move through our days with our smartphone apps in hand and mind, noticing and tracking our ideas and experiences into personal lifestreams of information. Can the data we're recording about our daily progress be used for the greater public good? This conversation will explore the potential for integrating information from individuals' mobile apps into aggregated data sets in areas as diverse as cultural trends, medicine and environmental science. From our presentation at SXSW Interactive, Monday, March 12, 2012 3:30PM - 4:30PM

1. Can
Personal
Lifestreams
Provide
Data
for
Public
Good?
#sxsw
#lifedata
Steve
Brown
@brown2020
Shawn
Achor
@shawnachor

2. Lifestream:
A
-me-­‐ordered
stream
of
documents
that
func-ons
as
a
diary
of
your
electronic
life;
every
document
you
create
and
every
document
other
people
send
you
is
stored
in
your
lifestream.
-­‐
Eric
Freeman
and
David
Gelernter,
1995

3. More
lifestream
data
exists
today
than
ever
before
imagined

4. We
tend
to
focus
on
the
side
of
the
lifestream
coin
can
bite.

5. “If
I’ve
Googled
“diabetes”
for
a
friend
or
“date
rape
drugs”
for
a
mystery
I’m
wriDng,
data
aggregators
assume
those
searches
reflect
my
own
health
and
procliviDes.”
Facebook
Is
Using
You
February
4,
2012

6. “Your
wallet
PC
will
be
able
to
keep
audio,
Dme,
locaDon,
and
eventually
even
video
records
of
everything
that
happens
to
you.
It
will
be
able
to
record
every
word
you
say
and
every
word
said
to
you,
as
well
as
your
body
temperature,
your
blood
pressure,
the
barometric
pressure,
and
a
variety
of
other
data
about
you
and
your
surroundings.…
It
will
be
able
to
track
your
interacDons
with
the
network
—all
of
the
commands
you
issue,
the
messages
you
send,
the
people
you
call
or
who
call
you.”

7. The
previous
quote
was
from
Bill
Gates
in
1995
in
his
book
The
Road
Ahead

8. There
are
two
sides
of
the
lifestream
coin.
How
can
personal
lifestream
data
being
used
for
good?

9. Catch.com:
A
private
lifestream
for
your
own
goals
and
projects,
producRvity
and
self-­‐reflecRon

10. Example:
Lifestream
data
can
be
shared
and
aggregated
for
shared
goals
and
projects,
including
ciRzen
science
and
environment
protecRon
from
apps
related
to
topics
you
care
about.

11. Example:
California
Roadkill
ObservaRon
System
aggregates
data
from
concerned
ciRzens

13. Example:
CiRzen-­‐reported
data
tracking
the
impact
and
status
of
the
Gulf
Oil
Spill

14. Example:
Ushahidi
is
a
plaZorm
for
aggregaRng
ciRzen-­‐reported
data
on
any
issue.
Started
in
Africa
to
report
and
share
reports
of
violence
a[er
an
elecRon
in
Kenya.

20. Juliana
Ro:ch
-­‐
ExecuRve
Director

21. Ushahidi
is
now
used
worldwide,
including
in
applicaRons
for
public
health
surveillance
in
the
US.

29. Health
Buddy:
Successful
early
pioneer
of
self-­‐reported
personal
health
status
data
designed
to
improve
chronic
care
and
reduce
hospital
admissions.

30. AutomaRcally
adding
lifestream
data
from
drug
delivery
devices
can
help
idenRfy
and
address
environmental
causes
of
asthma
and
pa^erns
in
treatment

31. What
if
we
had
the
lifestream
data
on
the
100
year
old
smokers
who
DIDN’T
get
cancer?
Perhaps
we
could
find
some
clues
that
lead
us
toward
new
treatments
and
cures.

32. Shawn
Achor
studies
the
posiRve
outliers
to
help
understand
how
we
all
can
improve
ourselves.
This
field
will
advance
rapidly
as
more
and
more
lifestream
data
starts
to
be
shared
for
public
good.