Ecological views of big data: Perspectives and issues

• Big data from a socio-technical systems theory.
• The trajectory of big data by reviewing ecosystem, identifying its key components.
• Challenges and problems through the lens of a socio-technical analysis of big data development.

From the viewpoint of big data as a socio-technical phenomenon, this study examines the associated assumptions and biases critically and contextually. The research analyzes the big data phenomenon from a socio-technical systems theory perspective: cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomena that rest on the interplay of technology, analysis, and mythology provoking extensive utopian and dystopian rhetoric. It examines the development of big data by reviewing this theory, identifying key components of the big data ecosystem, and explaining how these components are likely to evolve over time. Despite extensive investment and proactive drive, uncertainty exists concerning the evolution of big data and the impact on the new information milieu. Significant concerns recently addressed are in the areas of privacy, data quality, access, curation, preservation, and use. This study provides insight into these challenges and opportunities through the lens of a socio-technical analysis of big data development, which includes social dynamics, political discourse, and technological choices inherent in the design and development of next-generation ICT ecology. The policy implications of big data are addressed using Korean information initiatives to highlight key considerations as the country progresses in this new ecology era.