Neha Thatte

Why Data is the most important resource in the future? Hello Aluxers, welcome to another exciting video. We’re aware of the oil boom in the early 1900s and know how it helped the oil rich regions to make fortunes, but today the world’s richest companies are no longer selling oil. With advancement in technology, data has emerged as the most valuable resource for businesses. So in today’s video we’re going to explore why data has gained so much importance in recent years, and how it can shape our future. Introduction Aluxers we’re living in the age of fourth industrial revolution, that’s the age of data and artificial intelligence. Today the biggest companies in the world like Google, Facebook and Amazon are all selling data and using data to make intelligent business decisions. Even industries are using and storing data through ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems to improve efficiencies in production, inventory and sales, and making decisions on the basis of real time data. As individuals we’re also creating data on a daily basis, through various platforms like social media, apps used on our smartphones and devices like FitBit. Believe it or not 90% of data created in human history till date was produced after 2010 and it is expected that by 2025 we will be producing 120 billion gigabytes of data globally, per day. If you’re wondering how companies like Amazon are making big bucks using data, here’s an example- consider a football fan buys $30 poster of his favourite team online, Amazon uses this purchase data to target him with $300 jersey of his favourite team, which he is likely to buy. Thus a sale worth $30 leads to an upsell of $300 simply by the use of data, and this is how giants like Amazon use data to upsell and cross sell various products and services to users and end up making big bucks. Apart from E-commerce sites, search giants like Google also make fortunes by mining data. You must have noticed that your Google looks very different from your friend’s Google and that’s because over the years Google has been collecting data through searches you have made, and now targets you with advertisements and information that you are most likely to use. Every second there are 2.3 million searches performed on Google and the majority of them lead to search pages including google ads paid by businesses. Annually businesses around the world make billions of dollars using Google’s search and advertising tools making it the most successful platform for targeted advertisements. In the first quarter of 2018, Google itself made $26.6 billion or 85% of its revenue from advertising. Knowing how businesses are making fortunes by using data, let us try to understand how data is changing our world altogether and helping us to build a better future- How data is changing our world? Even though enterprises were among the first to see the potential of data, data isn’t all about business. Doctors and Healthcare professionals are using data to provide personalized healthcare services and improve the quality of medical treatment given to each individual. This approach helps to record detailed medical history of a patient that can be transferred from one doctor to another without any information loss. Through advanced algorithms, data analytics is helping farmers to unlock highly valuable insights and perform precision agriculture. Real time insights are helping farmers in decision making that covers everything from sowing seeds to applying fertilizers, and suggesting adaptations needed for emerging weather events or disease outbreaks. Manufacturing industries are using data based system to continuously monitor and store critical information and predict failures or stoppages before they occur, warehouses are using cloud based ERP systems to maintain inventory and reorder parts before they go out of stock. Finance industry has adopted data mining to facilitate online traders in making investment decisions to acquire consistent returns, this has helped investors to reduce the risks and make accurate predictions based on logic rather than estimates and guess. Data will also play a key role in designing tomorrow’s cities, it is expected that by 2050, 66% of the world’s population will be living in cities, and city planning tools that can predict the impact of proposed interventions using data analytics will drive the future of urban planning. In some countries, data analytics is also being used by law enforcement agencies to predict criminal activities and deploy officers in advance. Big data analytics can also be used to avoid data breach and minimize the effect of breach from those that still manage to get through. Data can be monetized in numerous ways, and some businesses are even working on creating a marketplace where individuals can sell their personal data anonymously and securely. A US based startup named Nano Vision is working on creating a token to incentivize molecular data collection through microchips. Data Engineers are specifically developing protocols such as IOTA and Moeco to enable a more decentralized ecosystem for data collection, usage, and exchanges. Such steps will help to turn the corner for individual data ownership, and pave our way to an effective and impartial data marketplace that allows us to buy and sell our self generated assets in a way we choose. Aluxers, after watching this video you might have become even more aware of the importance of data and its privacy, and we know you love to stay online no matter what, that’s why we recommend using a VPN. It's a super easy to use piece of software that protects your data online so that the government or other companies can't spy on you and you can enjoy the internet you know and love. We partnered with the great folks at NordVPN to bring you an amazing offer. If you go to alux.com/vpn and sign up using the code ALUX, you will get Get 70% off NordVPN! Only $3.49/mo, plus you get an additional month FREE to see if you find it valuable. Protect yourself today on the internet by going to alux.com/vpn Challenges and Threats Increasing use of data is also increasing risks of data breach and threatening the users with fear of their private data being hacked. Famous social media platforms like- Facebook have always been at the centre of data breach scandals. Recently Facebook was condemned for passing over users data to a data mining firm named Cambridge Analytica. The firm closed its operations in 2018 after it was found to have accessed over 50 million user profiles on Facebook unethically, and help Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign by influencing political decisions of these users through targeted advertising. Facebook’s main product- their News Feed has also been criticized for paid ads and fake news that are influencing people all over the world. There are several accounts on Facebook that spread coordinated misinformation for the Government’s of various countries, and the company is finding a way to debunk them. With growing concerns of data breach, people are becoming more conscious of their personal data and in a recent research it was shown that 97% of customers across countries like US, Germany, India, China and the UK are concerned that governments and businesses will misuse their data. In another international study it was also found that 75% of customers mistrust brands with their personal data, assuming this trend to continue, we can expect that in future big tech companies will no longer be owning data, but rather would be managing it. Along with digital citizens even regulators are showing concerns regarding data privacy, the EU council recently passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that levies severe fines for non-compliance-4% of annual revenue or €20 million Euros, whichever is highest. The GDPR consists of numerous new measures that will change the way businesses handle data. Conclusion Data is clearly the most valuable resource right now, and in a world of data aggregation there are many companies who are making billions of dollars by collecting personal data and reselling it, both ethically or unethically. But with increased awareness among people and modified regulations by governments, we can expect a future where people will own their data while business manage it to make things better. Question Aluxers, having such a large international audience, we love to hear your opinions. What do you guys think of the rising importance of data, do you believe that it will be the most important resource in the future? Let us know in the comments.. As a thankyou for staying with us till the end, here’s your piece of bonus- Bonus Aluxers after learning so much about the importance of data, we’re sure some of you might be willing to pursue a career in data mining, well you must know that data mining jobs are considered to be one of the hottest jobs right now. A data mining analyst gets paid on an average $117,000 annually in the USA, and according to IBM, demand for US data professionals will increase by 364,000 openings this year, amusing right? References https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/06/cambridge-analytica-how-turn-clicks-intovotes-christopher-wylie https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/data-oil-digital-world-asset-tech-giants-buy-it/ https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-nolonger-oil-but-data https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/the-future-is-now-howto-win-the-resource-revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIOq1uLE5K4 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/how-is-big-data-going-to-change-the-world/ https://blog.westerndigital.com/powerful-ways-data-is-changing-our-world/