Metrics and maya | Jessica Seddon | TEDxBonn

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. We measure things all the time. Little things - microscopic dust particles. Big things - urban settlement density. Personal things - poverty and vulnerability. Change - the extent of arctic sea ice. Stasis - the structural integrity of skyscrapers and aircraft wings. We build elaborate social scaffolding for collective response to these measurements: property rights and markets in which to trade them; performance scorecards and rewards and punishments to respond to them; collective mental models of the world and the political avenues to provide feedback. Yet all of these facts are the products of metrics, socially negotiated standards for measurement. These maps of reality may include and exclude information and details with the best and most scientific of intentions, but they are never as universal or true as we tend to think. When the maps are misleading, our responses are inevitably misguided. The whole structure of knowledge-and-response is somewhat self correcting as people contest the metrics used to describe them, businesses seek better maps to maintain their competitive edge, and technology change offers new options for measurement and metrics with each passing day. Still, the updates to the map, to the quality of the foundation for the scaffolding, lag behind the speed which which we build the social infrastructure. This imbalance undermines many of the most pressing global projects we face. But we can correct it. Picture “Metrics and Maya” Dr Jessica Seddon is a Senior Fellow at the IIT Madras Centre for Technology and Policy and the Founder of Okapi, an India-based research and consulting group focused on institutional design for complex goals in changing times. Her research and consulting focus design and evaluation of informational interventions, including investments in generating and/or managing information, formation of metrics, and policy and regulation toward information technology. Her work cuts across sectors - from infrastructure to air pollution to healthcare - to enable innovative approaches to achieving collective purpose. Dr. Seddon has published book chapters and articles on infrastructure, Indian political economy, IT and governance, environmental regulation and other institutional design topics in international academic and policy venues including Cambridge University Press, Journal of Development Economics, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Foreign Affairs and Harvard Business Review. Her work has been supported by grants from Google.org, Australian Development Research Awards, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, Stanford University, and University of California, San Diego, among others. About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)