Framing Policy Visions of Big Data in Emerging States

Emerging states, such as Brazil, India, and China (the BICs), have big plans for big data and digitalization. Research has identified distinct policy visions regarding how technological advances can facilitate economic development and improve governance.This article examines how BIC governments frame data-driven ambitions across the diverse issue areas in which governments plan to use big data, as well as how they frame the role(s) of the government and citizens in the era of big data. We find clear differences in discussions of big data across the BICs and across issue areas. Moreover, we show the societal changes governments seek to effect using big data vary greatly in scope, with Brazil and India seeking more fundamental changes than China.