Why 'DATA is the new OIL?

We all have heard it probably more so in recent past that " data is new oil".

 I feel that the meaning is slightly different than it is generally interpreted. First lets be clear , data is data and oil is oil. 

Data can never be commodity and the reason is data is unlimited and infinitely produced, owners may be limited and I feel governments will ultimately go for the kill once it reaches the level of commodity trade or monopoly kind of situation. And ultimately it will be a open source with few restrictions.

For us all,What actually "data is the new oil" really means let me explain.

We all agree that like physical world there exist a digital world and post internet there is big surge in data creation and data usage, here by data I mean the information data points and not the internet data pack ( that has nothing to do with this blog)

This data created is as simple as the sms we send each other,random images we exchange or emails that fly every second- this is an unstructured data but still a data.

Then their is something like patients data in hospitals,RTO data,data from machines,data of collage students etc these are all structured data.

There has been data ever since humans started writting or used symbols to document something. 

So why now?

The data that is created now is at extremely high speed , huge volumes and ,the computing speed  to study this huge volume of data is also up to the mark.

So with these two realities the third reality is the data is created by vast majority of population in all possible  sections,ways and means from phone calls to payments to ticket booking to social media likes,to forms and surveys so this data is not just for the record but also for understanding why and how things are happening.

Data is telling us something no human brain  could calculate or comprehend.

So to understand the data we have started analysing the data and trying to find key notes that may give us new insights to problems we were facing and answers we wanted to seek.

Data doesnt tell you anything until you ask the right questions ? 

Most obvious question may not need data analysis but the special insights are seen only through tools that make the data dance in a way we never thought it would and show us different side of the problem and solutions we were looking at.

Coming back to 'oil '

The 'inferences' that analysis gives because of the data is the  'oil'  and that is why ' data is new oil'.

Size of the data helps to make it more reliable and real. But that doesn't mean small data don't tell you anything or it misleads you. Only thing is smaller data can't differenciate when the question in study is more intricate and need many  layers of validation.

An over simplified Eg. If I have data of 10 buyers out of which   6 buyers have kids in English medium and 4 in Marathi medium. It is difficult to arrive at a conclusion as you add 10 more buyers and that data may tell a completely different story.

Where, if we have data of bigger denomination it becomes more clear and then we get to the next layer of refinement asking, what is their age group,what is their favourite sports .

What will happen as you refine the same data with more parameters?

 It will start giving us more insights that may lead to more informed decisions.

Yes like a ,oil refinery 

We in data analysis have to get the derivatives that may help in completely different way.

Hence to treat,data as a sacred book of wisdom is nessesary and must try to get more data about our business, is the worship.

Data analysis can do wonders to your decision making process and why you do,what you do.

As real estate developer, we are siting on piles of data and loads of information but it's all distributed and needs data combing and digitising.

Once that is done your own company can use that data to shorten customer decision making time, you can become efficient in vendor negotiation and quantification, you can be hugely effective in making  your human resource utilisation to optimum.

Data certainly is of value but that value needs to be extracted and utilised in a way that will not just benifit the bottom line but also give you the road map for future.

To conclude- 

1.Data is important and we need to secure our own data with proper storage,security and collection funnel.

2. Data digitising is crucial and urgent.

3. Data improvement and furnishing is what will  be needed from time to time and training sales team to furnish existing data.

4. And finally analysis and interpretation. Using it for decisions that make buisness efficient.

Advit Dixit

Co- founder, Tribe Appsoft Pvt Ltd.

MD, CME Hitec Construction Ltd

Director,CREDAI Kolhapur

Member NASSCOM,ITAK.