The Age of Data is upon us

WHEN I was much younger, I learnt, with great enthusiasm, about past landmark periods such as the late Middle Ages of the medieval era, the Age of Enlightenment of early modern history and the Second Industrial Revolution of the modern era. And I often wondered what it would feel like to be lucky enough to witness the emergence of the next prominent historical period, and whether its dawn would herald an optimistic or a pessimistic future for humanity.

Back then, I could hardly imagine that, in the span of only a few short years, I would be actively operating at the forefront of some of the developments that would eventually shape the next consequential chapter in world history, a chapter that many have dubbed the "Age of Data".

Whatever you may think of the merits of the recent advancements in science, technology, medicine, et cetera, you are likely to agree that we are indeed living in interesting and eventful times. Everyday we hear of new technological improvements that enable us to build smarter products and make them cheaper and smaller than ever before. So much so that we are now capable of embedding such smart devices in many day-to-day objects, thereby connecting them in a complex network of objects, as part of the phenomenon known as Internet of Things, or IoT.

Modern efforts in automation, which gathered momentum as part of the Industrial Revolution, continue to sweep away swathes of manual activities across many human endeavours in favour of new capabilities to provide near error-free 24/7 services that, unlike humans, rarely suffer from any noticeable drop in performance.

Through social media platforms, many individuals are now capable of reaching out to hundreds of millions of people with a click of a button, or rather, a simple swipe of a virtual page, on their tiny mobile devices, to share memories, insights, news or fake news.

And we are now capable of searching for any topic of interest, and with an arbitrary degree of granularity, on the World Wide Web from the comfort of our rooms.

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Central to all these technological happenings, and arguably the single most important notion common to all of them, is the concept of data, whose recent meteoric rise means that, every day, we find more diverse sources (data variety) that produce more input (data volume) at increasing speed (data velocity).

In addition, dealing with an increased number of sources gives rise to the possibility that some of the data we acquire is incomplete, is incompatible with data from other sources, or is of questionable quality, which consequently increases the uncertainty in data (data veracity).

It is, therefore, fair to claim that we are now truly living in the Age of Data, where access to the right data at the right time can be a true source of competitive advantage for organisations, governments and, indeed, for individuals.

Potential consequences

But what are the potential consequences of having more data at our disposal? For a start, more data, coupled with ever-increasingly potent algorithms and smarter technological solutions, can result in more in-depth insights, leading to improved performance in various use cases. Our collective ability to produce effective Covid-19 vaccines in record time in the face of a major life-threatening global pandemic is a case in point and to a great degree, a result of our capabilities to create and use more relevant data faster and in a more targeted manner.

In fact, in the cases of medicine and education, more data has the potential to help generate products and/or services that are designed to serve each individual according to their specific weaknesses, strengths and needs. In another case, more data and the consequent increased insights about people and their relationships with their environments can result in more effective urban designs that not only improve peoples' quality of life, but can also help reduce negative impacts to the environment.

But of course, not all consequences of having more data are imminently positive and there are, naturally, concerns that need to be addressed. More data brings new challenges for privacy and security, and opens the door to misinformation, scams, abuse of power and infringement on human rights.

Our increased ability to extract insights from online behaviour of individuals can lead to creation of multiple digital versions of people that can remain accessible for a long time and eventually take on a life of their own. These digital twins of one's physical self can be instrumental in shaping how society sees and interacts with one, and can make or break an individual in ways that may not always be quite obvious or easily traceable.

And as if all these challenges are not big enough, we have to contend with the rise of our latest magnificent beast - the oft-times feared artificial intelligence, or AI - which through accessibility of more data and more sophisticated algorithms is finally producing results that in a number of use cases, already equal or better human performances. Is the prospect of super-intelligent machines, capable of outperforming humans on most tasks, one to eagerly look forward to or frantically run away from?

The above, of course, highlights only a few potential benefits and challenges of living in the Age of Data, but are arguably enough to justify why many consider the new era we are living in the "Age of Uncertainty or Great Confusion". And the jury is still out as to whether the new era will be a modern version of the Late Middle Ages, with painful and regrettable consequences for mankind, or a rendering of the bright and fresh period of Enlightenment, during which the quality of life for the average citizen of the world would greatly improve and true progress would emerge from the confusion.

In the face of all this evolving potential and disturbing uncertainty, what are the steps that we can take to better prepare ourselves for the future - as a society, and as individuals?

I consider 4 essential steps in need of urgent and immediate consideration:

• Reviewing the education system: While data as a subject of interest may in some ways still be in its infancy, it is mature and critical enough to be viewed with more respect and urgency. In other words, it is time to treat data at the same level of importance as the other critical subjects such as maths, languages and science. Mathematics is the bedrock of many human endeavours; science defines the basic truths about the world we live in; and languages enable us to communicate with others and function effectively in our societies.

In the same measure, a core knowledge of data is essential in enabling us to navigate the intricate challenges of the new world with confidence, and to remain relevant in the face of a fast-changing technological landscape.

To that end, our education system must move aggressively towards increasing the "digital quotient" of the populace and the sooner the treatment of data as a core subject is introduced to the school curriculum, the better it is.

• Viewing data as a true enterprise asset: More than ever before, there is now an increasing need for enterprises to treat their data as a central asset, rather than an afterthought or a by-product of an activity. Traditionally, and regrettably, many companies treat data as a "second class" citizen at best. This does not mean they do not take their data seriously. But many do tend to look at data from an isolated angle, say, a particular use case, perhaps specific to a single department or project, without much regard as to how their solutions or assumptions might affect other systems or projects in the same enterprise.

This is dangerous and can lead to increased cost through unnecessary operational waste or regulatory fines as a result of data mismanagement. Additionally, an enterprise that does not treat its data holistically is more likely to miss critical insights that may reveal new revenue streams hidden in layers of un-curated or inadequately prepared data. This ability of data to help reduce cost and increase revenue is what triggers the notion that "every business is now a data business"; and this is why many believe that any serious enterprise needs a formal chief data officer role to conduct the use of data across the enterprise.

• Formally injecting data into our economics framework: The emergence of multiple independent digital versions of every wired (digitally connected) individual must be factored into how economies of the future function. As our digital versions become more prominent and independently interact with smart algorithms leading to decisions that tangibly affect our physical selves, their contribution to the world economy must be acknowledged and incentivised.

In other words, it is time for individuals to realise their impact and have a clearly specified ownership of their own digital footprints, and be duly rewarded for their participation in a more expansive digital economy. Such due rewards can form the foundation of a universal income programme that encourages individuals to take a more active part in their respective economies. The end result is a stronger economy, based on the maxim "we pay you to remain wired", which benefits a bigger chunk of the society.

• More effective oversight through policies and regulations: To safeguard privacy, security and individual freedom and to minimise potential biases against individuals and groups as a result of mismanagement of data, data life cycle requirements, appropriate use of data for its intended use case and provisions for punishing bad behaviour and malpractice must be clearly stipulated. Government policies and industrial standards and regulations are essential parts of an overall data ecosystem that can provide much needed oversight, clarity and accountability as part of an effective governance framework.

The field of data or Big Data, as it is commonly referred to these days, is vast and fast-changing, and consequently, it may appear complex, intimidating and overly challenging. It is, however, within our capabilities to help shape the future in our preferred direction, towards human advancement. With Big Data comes big responsibilities, and the sooner we accept those responsibilities, the higher the chance that the next chapter in human history will be a glorious one.

The writer is a data strategist and technologist. He is the author of a newly released book, Data Unplugged: Understanding Data and Why It Matters (Write Editions, 2021), aimed at enabling enterprises to be smarter through the discipline of strategising data.