The Graveyard of Empires and Big Data

The only tiki bar in eastern Afghanistan had an unusual payment
program. A sign inside read simply, “If you supply data, you will get
beer.” The idea was that anyone — or any foreigner, because Afghans were
not allowed — could upload data on a one-terabyte hard drive kept at
the bar, located in the Taj Mahal Guest House in Jalalabad. In exchange,
they would get free beer courtesy of the Synergy Strike Force, the
informal name of the American civilians who ran the establishment.

Patrons could contribute any sort of data — maps, PowerPoint slides,
videos, or photographs. They could also copy data from the drive. The
“Beer for Data” program, as the exchange was called, was about merging
data from humanitarian workers, private security contractors, the
military, and anyone else willing to contribute. The Synergy Strike
Force was not a military unit, a government division, or even a private
company; it was the self-chosen name of the odd assortment of Westerners
who worked — or in some cases volunteered — on the development projects
run out of the guest house.