There's an interesting report available for downloading from the Aspen Institute titled "The Promise and Peril of Big Data", summarizing a workshop the Institute held in 2009. This can be found at

This report explores some of the same issues discussed in Microsoft's recent book "The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery" which I posted about earlier, and which can be found at

The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery - Microsoft Research

Increasingly, scientific breakthroughs will be powered by advanced computing capabilities that help researchers manipulate and explore massive datasets. The speed at which any given scientific discipline advances will depend on how well its researchers collaborate with one another, and with technologists, in areas of eScience such as databases, workflow management, visualization, and cloud computing technologies. […]

but at a less technical level, and also looks more broadly at implications beyond the sciences.

Clifford Lynch Director, CNI