Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future: data analytics

Showing posts with label data analytics. Show all posts

Chasing Future Meaning

The massive volume of new data surrounding us is growing at an extraordinary rate. This data plus its meaning and the the value it offers will inform the winners and losers of tomorrow.

It's not that individual bits of data have such great value on their own, rather it's the combinations of data from different sources, and their combined meaning that is golden. The challenge of course is finding and combining all the data sources and their meanings into something really useful, and trusted.

Often we can find data, but we don't know its accuracy, source or trustworthiness. We also don't often have a lot of time to find, combine and refine the data sources and their combined meaning. We need blockchain like processes that can include the source of data, its meaning and how it can be combined with other sources to reveal new insights.

Reality is Required

If you have spent any time working on IT projects you will have heard the statement, "The solution is only as good as the data." It's true. If you lack enough good data to generate an accurate output, stop and find it before moving forward. I remember having so many good ideas for process improvement when I worked in IT. Almost all of them, however, were shut down with the words, “We don’t have good data for that.”

Truth is important. If your data does not reflect reality – digital solutions won’t work. Many technology projects fail when they move from the whiteboard to reality because they were designed on a notional view of the world, rather than on the state of things as they actually exist.

Understanding what reality is can often be helped by developing a digital twin. A digital twin is created by integrating sensors into a thing or series of things for the purpose of capturing enough good data to clearly depict reality. Sensor-supported digital twins fill in the blind spots. Where previously we operated on conjecture and false assumptions, we can now operate with an improved view of reality.

Reality, however, is more than data. Sixty-degrees is a good hiking temperature if it is measured in Fahrenheit, but it would kill you if the results were measured in Celsius. A 500% increase in your annual sales sounds impressive, unless you started with 25 cents. Data that reflects reality must also include context.

Read more on the Future of Information here:

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Kevin Benedict

Partner | Futurist | Leadership Strategies at TCS

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***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Covid-19, Demographics, Risk Analysis and Mobile Apps

Finally, it seems we have accumulated enough data from Covid-19 cases to focus in on how we can properly and strictly protect our vulnerable populations and reopen our economies. We know that if a person has underlying health problems* they have a far higher risk so need additional protections. We know that people over 65 years old and people living in long-term care facilities are more at risk. In fact, the most recent update from Idaho's Covid-19 statistics show 58 of the 60 reported deaths occurring in individuals 60 or older. If a person does not fit any of these three high risk categories, then their risk of getting seriously ill from Covid-19 is small. This data seems to suggest that giving different guidance to different segments of our population may have merit.

Throughout history military leaders have wrestled with the “fog of war" - the desperation of not knowing critical information. Information as basic as where are my forces and where are the forces of my opponents? We face similar information needs today in our battle against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

“The ultimate purpose of data is to provide a basis for action or a recommendation for action,” wrote the revered quality improvement consultant W. Edwards Deming. Today, in our battle against the COVID-19 virus, we are struggling to make informed decisions because of our own lack of data. The absence of information both paralyzes decision-making and forces us to expend enormous amounts of time and energy defending against all kinds of scenarios that may not in fact be relevant. We just don’t know. Think about a scenario of being lost in a dark forest at night with all kinds of strange sounds and dangerous predators lurking about. How would you defend yourself? Which way would you turn? It would be difficult in the best of times, but the absence of data can make it even more excruciating! We are struggling with this today.

Today the fog of war can largely be lifted with the combination of software systems, mobile phones, sensors and analytics. With COVID-19, however, we have the necessary and important consideration of how to protect personal privacy.

Another relevant Deming adage, “The biggest problems are where people don’t realize they have one in the first place.” Not knowing the status of COVID-19 in our communities is a big problem. In order to move forward and open the economy again we need to understand precisely our COVID-19 exposure and status. We must quickly remove the blind spots by collecting as much data as possible, while at the same time protecting as much of our privacy as possible.

I look forward to quickly reaching a point where we replace conjecture with good data. Removing the blind spots is our next best step for our physical, mental and financial health.