Podcast series: Global challenges – Global solutions

Big Data: What it is, what it does and how it impacts the world of work

Big Data is sweeping up information on just about everything, from traditional sources of information to mobile phone use. It’s a powerful new tool for powering economic development and informing policy making that can improve people’s lives and address the growing need for new and decent jobs.

9 December 2025

© Riku Lu/Unsplash

The latest episode of the “Global Challenges - Global Solutions” podcast explores the transformative role of Big Data in shaping policies and informing decision-making in today’s interconnected world. Big Data is different from traditional data, covering a wider range of information, including insights gathered from mobile phone data. This new tool for powering economic development and informing policymaking can improve people’s lives and address the growing need for new and decent jobs. However, Big Data also raises concerns or questions around privacy, data sources and governance.

In this podcast two experts on Big Data, Veronica Escudero, Senior Economist and Lead of the Skills, Labour Market Policies and Policy Evaluation Team of the ILO Research Department, and Sveta Milusheva, Senior Economist in the Development Impact department at the World Bank and co-lead of the Bank’s Global Data Facility – Mobile Phone Data for Policy (GDF–MPD) Program, explain how Big Data works and its impacts on the world of work.

This podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Guests

  • Photo of Verónica Escudero
    Verónica Escudero
    Senior Economist and Lead of the Skills, Labour Market Policies and Policy Evaluation Team of the ILO Research Department
  • Photo of Sveta Milusheva
    Sveta Milusheva
    Senior Economist in the Development Impact department at the World Bank and co-lead of the Bank’s GDF-MPD Program

See also

Global challenges - Global solutions
hands holding smartphone

Podcast series

Global challenges - Global solutions

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Measuring Quality of Employment in Emerging Economies: A Methodology for Assessing Job Amenities using Big Data

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