Migration-related data acquired from traditional sources presents persisteng gaps which impede real-time information, comparability between countries and the frequency of updates. In a context of increasingly complex transnational human mobility, big data offers many possibilities in order to close existing data gaps. If irregular migrants do not figure in the data, they can hardly be taken into account in decision-making processes, and neither can their needs be addressed by migration and integration policies.

This policy brief assesses the opportunities presented by the use of big data to improve the análisis of migration-related phenomena and inform migration and integration policies. It makes recommendations to the European Commission on ways to seize the potential of big data in these fields.