Living in a data driven world

Abstract

In the last 12 months we have seen a leap forward in the use of technology (most of it already available to us) to provide a more connected and safe working environment. This greater engagement with technology has led to exploration of what we can use it for to make a better world not only for tomorrow but for the here and now. In this issue we have several articles focusing on digital transformation, use of data and new technology and so I thought it would be interesting to take a brief look at data, how we are using it, developing using it and when perhaps we can realise real benefit from the analysis of large data sets for the future of our environment. Data is described by the Cambridge English Dictionary as ‘information, especially facts or numbers, collected to be examined and considered and used to help with making decisions’. There are many challenges in gaining real benefits from data analysis from traversing privacy laws to licensing and combining the right sets of data to careful interpretation of results in the correct context. Time and again when I speak to information professionals, I hear about the battle to understand and interpret internal data before even considering the complexities of what external data is available and how to license it for specific use to gain benefit for their organisation. This was further backed up as a key theme that came through in our survey this year. On further reading it is also a key theme in McKinsey Insights with several articles dedicated to getting more strategic with the information an organisation holds to operate more effectively. What are we doing to make the most of data? The pandemic has seen an unprecedented collaborative effort to use data to find solutions to the public health crisis, controlling the spread and developing vaccines to ultimately manage if not eradicate the virus. In an interview between McKinsey’s Hemant Ahlawat and Mitch Cuddihy, Dame Sally Davies, England’s former Chief Medical Officer, discusses the challenges and achievements utilising data sets brought those working to combat the pandemic (https://www.mckin sey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/ preventing-global-health-crises-an-interview-with-damesally-davies?cid1⁄4other-eml-dre-mip-mck&hlkid1⁄46227 aae6cbfb4a4588a137268c185724&hctky1⁄412489918& hdpid1⁄45ef2c874-47fa-4ec4-b3aa-844f2295218e). In this article Dame Sally talks about how the pandemic has made them see the need to use data differently in order to get the right insights to the right people at the right time. She reflects on the difficulties of effectively combining different types of siloed data to track disease transmission quoting a successful example of how the Spanish statistics office worked with national telecom companies and within strict data privacy laws to help decision makers see how the population was sticking to lockdown measures. She goes on to talk about the Trinity Challenge and how this is focussed on working out how we can better and more efficiently use data and technology to anticipate and manage health crises of the future. Can we realise benefits from big data yet? It seems we are getting there slowly. While stories appear occasionally in the press like how Manchester City player, Kevin DeBruyne used data analytics in his favour as he used data analysis to broker his latest contract with the football club to the tune of £83.2 million (https://www.mirror.co.uk/ sport/football/news/kevin-de-bruyne-uses-data-23870686? utm_source1⁄4sharebar&utm_medium1⁄4email&utm_cam paign1⁄4sharebar), we tend to hear more about the concerns and challenges around privacy. Another article from McKinsey Insights delves into this area further in an interview with several industry leaders in AI and machine learning usage. Five insights about harnessing data and AI from leaders in the frontier provides an interesting overview of how organisations are starting to gain a foothold and develop their analysis of the data they hold to their competitive advantage. The five insights cover: advantages of new forms of data, the organisations popping up who are refining and connecting data sets, the tools that are now available to help organisations move forward with realising benefits from data, the importance of domain experts when developing analyses and algorithms to gain insights and privacy safeguards and ethics. I found the insight around the importance of domain experts particularly important. It backs up the need for a detailed understanding of a problem to design the right solution within the context an organisation is operating in. Too often ‘fake’ headlines are produced when information gathered is taken out of the context it was gathered within and applied in a totally different way. Algorithms have run muck creating problems rather than solutions for organisations because experts were not there to make sense and interpret the data in context. There is a long way to go with what we can do with data but we are making inroads and starting to realise some real benefits.