Kiti Mignotte, the Founder of MANA Community, talks to WikiRate about her views on and relationship with data.
How many years have you been working with data?
7 years.
What kind of data do you work with?
Environmental controversies.
How do you use data in your work today?
To raise consciousness. So that those who wish to act have a maximum of information about the REAL environmental impact of companies.
Where do you get your data, any recommendations?
We get it as close to the field as possible. We turn to local NGOs, activists, and journalists specialized in environmental issues…
Our recommendation: be sure that your sources are reliable. Ours are checked by international NGOs.
If you could wave a magic wand, what data would you wish for?
I would love for people working within private corporations to be given the possibility to provide sensitive information about their company behavior in a safe manner, without taking the risk of losing their job.
What’s your top tip when working with data and it gets frustrating?
Have confidence in humanity’s tendency to desire transparency. I am certain that human beings feel lighter when they know. Because confusion is a source of stress. On the other hand, we also have to be comfortable with the certainty that the world is too complex to be understood… I guess we have to learn to sail between these two waters…
Do you have a data project or resource you’d like to share with the world?
The project may seem a bit abstruse today but I like the spirit of TRASE, which uses all possible data around the subject of deforestation to facilitate the work of those who assess the risk and give it for free.
Lastly, what’s your favorite joke or quote about data?
You may be significant, but are you meaningful?
