The Raw Power Of Data
Which is very different than the limited power of raw data…
Data is power. It is energy. It is a recurring theme of many of my articles here on Medium. There may be nothing more powerful in our modern digital society.
It is a near limitless and 100% renewable. Raw data really couldn’t be cheaper to find or capture. So why do so few businesses and organizations use it properly? Let’s use this article to further define that power AND reconcile why so much of it goes untapped.
Perspective From History
You might be excused for believing oil was discovered in Texas or Saudi Arabia. Or maybe you just believe it was first productionalized there? Truth is, that story began 160 years ago in Pennsylvania (Titusville).
This bears mentioning for quite a few reasons. To start, the oil industry we know today is nearly two centuries old. It takes a while to turn a messy, black liquid that bubbles from the ground (at least under a little pressure) and turn it into what the petroleum industry has become today. It requires structure, refinement, and innovation.
There are a lot of similarities between data and oil. I am certainly not the only one saying it. It has earned the repetition.
Data requires structure, refinement, and innovation. It is dirty and far less useful when tapped in its raw state. In fact, if handled improperly, it just makes a great big mess. I don’t need to prod you much to see that parallel.
Data does have a few stark contrasts. It is easier to find and collect (at least in theory). It is also nowhere near two centuries old. Certainly not on a production-basis. Which might make it more accurate to state that data has the most parallels with oil from the early 20th century. Either way, it is a solid comparison.
At this point, it might be worth noting that nearly all energy sources have a part to play in this analogy. If you are focused on storage, you might want to compare structured data to coal. Unstructured data, data streams, and other more recent data formats feel closer to oil and gas. There are ties in activities like data mining and even the comparison of analysis & synthesis to fission & fusion. The analogy works on many levels. Data is in many ways a digital fossil record!
Energy drives the economy — data will be no different.
The industrial revolution was powered by the new abundance of energy. Sure other technologies, specialization, mechanization, and other things played a part. These same factors have joined data in the new digital revolution. Thing is — none of them have really changed. They are simply being directed toward data. But I think we have spent enough time on theory…
The Elephant In The Room…
The story of Topsy the Elephant is another useful historic analogy. Useful in the sense that most relative history gets it all wrong. Almost every bit of popular knowledge about the death of Topsy is … well wrong.
Edison wasn’t there and likely not personally involved in any way. The “War of Currents” was already over. Topsy was actually poisoned and hung as well. The only clear reality in the popular mythology is that the event was a spectacle, it featured the raw power of electricity, and a bunch of people profited from it. It is certainly not one of electricity’s brighter moments.
Data has become engrossed in its own public spectacles. They are just as poorly understood. So far, they haven’t directly killed any elephants but alternating perspective and focus can be dangerous, too. They are far more complicated and convoluted than most people realize. But people are clearly profiting from them.
Point being — data is power. Power can be scary and misused. Doubly so when more people than not, have limited understanding.
The Power
Data influences. It drives culture. It fuels innovation. It creates authority (often falsely). It provides measurement which often controls activity. It provides measurement which often controls investment. Data is power.
Now, power is not always so evident in raw data. As noted earlier, it requires structure, refinement, and innovation. Though it is still early, those elements have begun forming the story of data. It is a story with a lot of power.
At its most basic, data is a record of the identity, activity, and actions of people in society. It is a record. It can be recorded and quantified. If refined into a report or other presentation— it can be used to educate, inform, and persuade. When used properly it provides insight, defines culture, and drives decision-making.
Data can also be used for more nefarious ends. It can be weaponized. It can distort and mislead. Much like energy, it can be leveraged easily to whatever ends the user chooses. It can also be used to counter those same ends. The final impact, in either approach, is determined by how data is refined and structured. Raw data does not have the influence and authority created through this process.
So if data is such a clear source of power, authority, and impact — why do so few businesses and organizations use it to their advantage? The answer lies in the refinement process. Perhaps it is because we are actually early in the life cycle of data — but few businesses and organizations have demonstrated their adeptness for these sorts of refinements.
Today — data and analytics is an add-on to other college majors, at best it is considered interdisciplinary. You can imagine this was how petroleum engineering and even industrial engineering began as well. Until data is adopted as a true specialization, society may find itself challenged for enough expert practitioners to truly launch this process forward.
Or perhaps, due to the hands-on nature of data and analytics, we will need to wait for in-house training to mature. Perhaps the answer is not at the university level, but instead an on-the-job opportunity. Perhaps there is another way forward entirely. Regardless, we remain in the early days of data development — even if it feels like data has been here forever. Relative to its power and its historic benchmarks — it is very new.
Thanks for reading!
