Abstract:
Big data applications are at the epicentre of recent breakthroughs in digital health. However,
controversies over privacy, security, ethics, accountability, and data governance have tarnished
stakeholder trust, leaving health-relevant big data projects under threat, delayed, or abandoned.
Taking the notion of big data as social construction, this work explores the social representations of the
big data concept from the perspective of stakeholders in Kenya’s digital health environment. Through
analysing the similarities and differences in the way health professionals and information technology
(IT) practitioners comprehend the idea of big data, we draw strategic implications for restoring
confidence in big data initiatives. Respondents associated big data with a multiplicity of concepts
and were conflicted in how they represented big data’s benefits and challenges. On this point, we
argue that peculiarities and nuances in how diverse players view big data contribute to the erosion of
trust and the need to revamp stakeholder engagement practices. Specifically, decision makers should
complement generalised informational campaigns with targeted, differentiated messages designed
to address data responsibility, access, control, security, or other issues relevant to a specialised but
influential community.
