---
id: "govlab:project/bd4m"
type: "GovLab project"
title: "Big Data For Migration"
url: "https://thegovlab.org/project/bd4m"
authors: ["Stefaan Verhulst"]
summary: "Accelerating the responsible and ethical use of non-traditional data sources and methods to support migration policy on the global, national, and local levels"
source: "The GovLab (thegovlab.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Big Data For Migration

Accelerating the responsible and ethical use of non-traditional data sources and methods to support migration policy on the global, national, and local levels

Project website: [https://data4migration.org/](https://data4migration.org/)

## Background

The growing complexity of internal and cross-border human mobility, as well as the urgency to respond often in real-time, highlights the need for reliable and timely data to inform humanitarian assistance and policy responses. We need not only to innovate how we respond to migration, we also need to innovate how we develop our responses leveraging new data sources and methodologies. An abundance of data that could help inform migration policy is generated and owned by private companies. However, several challenges render these assets largely untapped.

## Description

The [Big Data for Migration (BD4M) Alliance](https://data4migration.org/), born from The 100 Questions Initiative’s Migration Domain, is a partnership between European Commission’s Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD), IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), and The GovLab dedicated to “facilitate responsible data innovation and collaboration to improve the evidence base on migration and human mobility and its use for policy making.”

In 2022, with support from the International Network for Digital Self-Determination, the BD4M Alliance hosted two [studios](https://medium.com/data-stewards-network/digital-self-determination-as-a-tool-for-migrant-empowerment-f0dc386c8a41) focused on developing digital self-determination as a tool for migrant empowerment and ensuring the ethical use of data for migration.

## Team

- [Stefaan Verhulst](https://thegovlab.org/team.html#stefaan-verhulst)