Into The Data Divide
It is likely not what you think or wanted to hear…
Continents have divides. Oceans have deeps. The universe has black holes. These are places where things are either coming together or pulling apart. The difference isn’t always clear. The US seems to have a strong political divide. I am not sure that is as clear as people think either. But I digress…
Divides seem to be a real problem for society. Or perhaps just a challenge? Challenger Deep for example.
Oddly, or not, if you Google divide — you learn that Ed Sheeran has one. It began with a symbol. But in a rather Prince like moment, it seems to have passed.
Where am I going with this?
Good question. At this juncture in the article, even I am not completely certain. I suppose I am going where everyone else does — around the edges. That tends to be where most people stay.
Black holes have something called an event horizon. And horrible things can happen when you cross one. Things that will keep you up at night. but wait, they were just hanging on the edges…
Perhaps that is where the real danger lies.
Into The Divide! … Now which one again?
If you go deeper into your Google search (there are pages and pages of Ed Sheeran), you find the mighty Data Divide. A concept that since 2007, at least in the US, has grown immensely in significance. Only… if I compare the “significance” of this term to say… Ed Sheeran — it has none. In fact, Challenger Deep is twice as significant.
The data divide even lags against its dying cousin, the digital divide. Which begs a question — does it matter? And another — what the hell is it?
Good questions. Let’s use a great one… no make it two.
How do you define the Data Divide? And how is that different from the Digital one?
The synthesized answer here is poorly and not much at all. I am struggling with how much to elaborate here. The digital divide is a dying issue. While nothing is perfect, the world has access to the internet, to laptops, and to smart phones. The age of digital haves and have nots ended a decade ago. The data divide is an issue that never was. Long before the digital divide was ending, access to data and open source tools was proliferating. Today, we are surrounded by more available data than ever before. This is not the divide we are looking for…
Like a whirlpool on the ocean, those early divides came and went. Their own power and gravity drew attention and resources too them. The void was closed. The energy dissipated. And the analogy of a divide was found rather wanting.
But when it comes to data, I am not certain that access was ever really the issue. I know sales people want it to be. Access is easy. If we can build cell towers in the Sahara and provide cheap laptops to Cambodia, throwing around data seems relatively easy and lucrative. Nothing like a well-defined problem-in-name-only to solve (exploit?) and pad a P&L.
The Real Divide Is The DSA Divide — How do I define that?
Access in its most shallow sense is rarely an issue for long. If there is demand, access will be found. Humans are great at finding things and creating access. If you doubt that, schedule a trip to a volcano, a Mayan ruin, or Antarctica. You can already get on a list for space, the moon, and Mars. We visit Challenger Deep, Mount Everest, and Chernobyl. We do access.
Humans take access too far. The United States doubly so. When we see a problem, we make it about access and then wonder why everything went horribly wrong. If you doubt that, you weren’t paying attention to credit card debt in the 80’s, savings and loans in the 90’s, mortgages in 2008, or the coming student loan debacle. All came with laudable aims — access to purchasing power, homes, and education. All ended — or will end — with a crash.
This isn’t just a financial thing. Hearing about a shortage of expert carpenters, we would soon be inundated in power tools. And soon — everyone is a craftsmen… owns a craftsmen? Goes to Home Depot? Wait… that already happened didn’t it?
The Dot Bomb was all about over abundant access. Few recall the Telecom implosion a few months/years later. That was about fixing the digital divide. Which it did, only the first heroes of that story all went bankrupt. The new ones picked up the pieces, at a discount.
The Data Science & Analytics Divide is the widening gap between access to data and the understanding of how to use it.
In a world full of power tools, we have an extreme lack of experienced and disciplined carpenters. Worse still — power tools can be dangerous! Once upon a time, schools taught shop and industrial arts. Cable TV networks gave us how-to shows (that actually showed how-to). Now we just Youtube it.
Data isn’t very different. Only it seems to have skipped a few steps. It skipped through the schools and right passed any History Channel series, straight to Youtube. And let’s not forget MOOCs…
Only unlike carpentry, smithing (which even spell check seems confused by), or mechanics — there is little way to know if what you are learning actually works. There is rarely a chair to sit on, a sword to wack a dummy with, or a car to start at the end of a DSA exercise. How does anyone know they are learning it right? … They don’t. Not until it is all too late.
Where are the apprenticeships, the standards, the principles, the mentors, the f’ing science?! Where is the education? Where does one acquire the right skills? This is the real divide. It isn’t being closed by our colleges. It is limited to the graduate level, where is isn’t working… well. Businesses are struggling as well. Employees are under trained, hard to retain, and frustrated. This divide is only getting bigger.
The economy is doing exactly what economies do. Today, I have access to more open source and cheap off-the-shelf solutions (read — power tools) than I know what to do with. And I am in the business of knowing. For a range of prices, I can inundate myself with proprietary frameworks, artificial intelligence, and self-serve business intelligence (that doesn’t).
DSA is easier than putting a deck on my house! Wait…
No problem! Once you fail, most people do, you can buy a host of consulting services from people who swear they have the answers. They dress well and are typically under the age of 32. But they speak of a PhD, who you never get to meet, who has taught all their 20-somethings how to do it right…
Only DSA isn’t a deck. It is not a product. It is a process, an array of skills and techniques. It is a science. People don’t need access to tools. They need access to understanding. They need to learn. They need to cross the divide, not stand on one side or the other waiting. And that requires people to lead, to learn, to educate.
Or not… the divide will close on its own. All divides do. They are closed by the very demand they create OR by a total dissipation of that demand. If a lack of skill leads to a lack of outcomes — demand will dissipate. Not entirely, data is far too powerful for those disciplined to use it.
Unlike Everest, Mars, and Challenger Deep — DSA will go the route of oil reserves, farms, and real estate. It will be ring fenced and owned, controlled by a small but powerful minority — those with access. But not to data, to learning, to discipline. Perhaps it has already started?
Authors update — Corsair’s has launched TradeCraft — a subscription based real-world data simulator and analytic training tool. Signup below for early access:
Corsair’s has breached the divide. Find out more:
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