Inside Datafication: Entrepreneurial Research for Investigating Emerging Data Practices

At Utrecht University, the Data School embarked on a journey to inves-
tigate AI and data practices up close, from within the organizations that
implement them. This empirical work thrives on a process involving
entrepreneurial activities – practices of collaborative and co-created
research enabling researchers to deeply immerse themselves in the societal
sectors under investigation. Occupying this privileged position, they
do not only gather insights: they can also intervene and immediately
apply their findings. This chapter presents how entrepreneurial activities
are used for collecting evidence, creating learning opportunities, and
possibilities for intervention and social impact. Referring to examples
of entrepreneurial research at the Data School, the chapter discusses
challenges and opportunities of this approach, and presents practices
for mitigating risks.