Are the SDGs being used to rank impact or monetise data?

There is a growing cluster of rankings and frameworks focused on engagement themes or which emphasise higher education’s social, cultural and economic impact and value for their communities. More recently rankings have begun to focus on sustainability.

The fourth edition of the THE Impact Rankings was released on Wednesday 27 April. While research still equates to 27% of the score per SDG, THE argues this represents only 7% of the overall score.

This may seem a significant improvement on conventional rankings, but it means the process is wholly reliant on self-reported and interpreted data. Another vulnerability is that THE evaluates each submission. Not only is gathering the material for submission a lot of work – especially for smaller and emerging institutions and countries – but it is unlikely that THE can control or validate the accuracy of the information provided by the universities.

Ultimately, the real value of THE Impact Rankings is the data it collects. As the era of self-regulation for Big Tech nears an end, similar questions about data ownership, governance and regulation must be asked of rankings, publishing and data analytics conglomerates.

See article in University World News, 30 April 2022
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220429114637871