Data: Past, Present, and Future
Part one of a blog series focused on one of your organization’s most valuable assets
If you want to catch a reader’s attention in almost any piece of thought leadership, simply use this phrase: data driven.
Corporations spanning nearly every industry have made huge investments in enabling their employees with data-driven skill sets. Many universities are replete with data and analytics-related courses. Consultants are never short on advice for all things data. Companies are requesting consumer data at every turn.
With this much focus on data over the past five to 10 years, you would think data-driven decision making would be commonplace. Alas, the lack of untapped customer insights and proliferation of disinformation on social media prove that we’re still far behind where we should be.
In short, data and modern technology don’t guarantee that our lives will be any easier either at work or home. However, data has played a central role in many of humankind’s recent triumphs. Data in the form of genome sequencing helped abate the worst pandemic in modern times. It’s also propelling humans to reach new heights (both literally and figuratively) by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology that changes the economics of space travel. In summary, effectively harnessing data is helping humans achieve goals that were previously deemed unimaginable.
From the C-suite to the break room, everyone is interested in data because of its potential to positively influence nearly all aspects of life. That said, data-driven journeys can be a bit like the quote from the famous baseball player, Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Business executives who are anxious to uncover elusive, data-driven insights frequently encounter a wall of technical and organizational obstacles such as complex architectures, siloed data, and extended timelines. Successfully navigating and implementing data solutions requires knowledge, context, perspective, and technical expertise.
The data-driven articles that we’re fed on social media and across the internet often highlight interesting and eye-catching use cases, but these use cases are typically not accompanied by specifics surrounding how the solution unfolded. Many executives fall prey to attention grabbing headlines and believe their organizations should be able to produce the same results as SpaceX within six months. Business and technology leaders and practitioners need a realistic and holistic dialogue about where the data discipline stands today and where we see it going in the future.
Data is a powerful digital fuel that has the potential to positively change our lives — both at home and at work. To encourage conversations on modern data, we’ll be publishing a multi-part blog series on the past, present, and future of data. This series will highlight specifics surrounding three high-level questions:
- What can the recent past teach us about data?
- What’s the present state of data?
- What’s the future of data?
In addition to the questions listed above, the blog posts will touch on many other important data topics, such as modern data architecture, data literacy, data management, privacy and security, data engineering, value creation, and more.
As we embark on this series, our goal is lofty: to provide a practical knowledge source for all things data and ultimately help build better tomorrows for all.
Slalom is a global consulting firm that helps people and organizations dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all. Learn more and reach out today.
