Forecasting international migration in the context of technological innovation

What is it about?

Human migration is difficult to measure and even more so to predict. This chapter presents an overview of methods for predicting international migration in a context of technological innovation. New technologies, on the one hand, enable migration itself by providing access to information and to social networks; on the other hand, they allow capturing digital traces left behind by those who migrate and using them to predict the number of international migrants.

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Photo by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash

Photo by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Measurement of migration is difficult because of a lack of a clear definition of who a migrant is and when migration occurs. Accurate measurement and prediction of international migration are important for implementing new social policies, for example about access to benefits, supporting human rights, and for checking how well those policies work. Technological innovation and access to Internet and communication technologies may enable better measurement and prediction of international migration.