Principles of data use for a social-ecological Berlin: guiding ideas for sustainability-oriented data governance

Data-driven innovations have enormous potential to make the existing economic and social order more just and environmentally sustainable. However, the past two decades have shown that such potential by no means materializes automatically. Rather, public interest-oriented management of data use is a complex political task that must take various interests and goals into account. This challenge also and particularly arises in a modern metropolis like Berlin. The formulation of principles for a social-ecological use of data can provide orientation and sharpen the view for conflicts of goals and interests.

This background paper examines four different discourses on "good" data use from a social-ecological perspective and derives six principles: individual data sovereignty, data transparency, data solidarity, data sufficiency, data responsibility and public data sovereignty. These principles are then related to the city-state of Berlin and its regulatory possibilities.