10th January, 2022
By Moshood Yahaya
The application of data is interwoven deeply into the very fabric of modern society; it would be impossible to run the modern information driven society without data. Data can take many forms, such as text, images, audio, video, and structured or unstructured data. The earliest use of data is almost unrecorded, with early computers used for simple tasks. The emergence of relational database management systems (RDBMS), which are still widely used today, enabled the storage and retrieval of data, and the advent of the internet totally revolutionised the storage, retrieval, and processing of data. In 2020, over 4.5 billion people were using the internet, generating an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, as reported by Forbes. The storage, processing and retrieval of such massive data were made possible by the invention of Big Data. These large datasets can be computationally analysed in order to map out human trends and patterns and further deepen the reliance of the entire world on data.
Though data has impacted the modern world heavily, its impact on business is unprecedented. The Big Six or FAANG are all data-driven companies that rely on data to gain insights that drive their business. Data has become an increasingly important asset for companies, allowing them to use data to gain insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and needs, make informed decisions and gain competitive advantages. In 2018, Forbes reported that 70% of the world’s data is produced and stored on Samsung’s products enabling them to become the world’s largest consumer electronics in the world by revenue. Stakeholders have tipped the optimal application of data in the business to give businesses a massive advantage, regardless of their size or industry. Data analysis offers small and new companies the ability to maximise efficiency, reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage against the big players in the big industry. It was the maximisation of data through Following Graph and Interest Graph that made a platform like TikTok, which was new at the time, grow exponentially and compete with the big six on the market as a data-driven company, as reported by Fortunes Business Insight. Understanding market trends, analysing economic trends, and proper risk management are some of the impacts of data in modern-day businesses.
The application of data has transcended private business to public enterprises, government parastatals and individuals. Just like data has heavily impacted business, individuals are also not immune. We all spend a lot of time on the internet; in fact, Statista reported in 2021 that adults in the United States spend an average of 485 minutes on the internet every day, and this number is expected to climb higher each year. We leave a digital footprint on the internet, and this footprint is converted into personalised data. The predictive analysis of this personalised data enables companies to target their consumers better and increase customer loyalty. McKinsey and Company conducted a survey that showed that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, 75% of consumers switched to new stores, products or buying methods that offered personalised experience with their data. The entire E-commerce sector is based on the data of personalised data gotten from digital footprints all over the internet. This approach birthed targeted ads and sales, which improved the revenue from the sector. The industry is projected to grow to $6.54 trillion by 2023, with data playing a crucial role in enhancing customer experience and increasing sales. Data-driven personalisation has had a profound effect on consumer behaviour, as it allows companies to focus on the needs of individual customers. Using personalised data, Amazon cross-sells and upsells to consumers, generating as much as 35% of overall profits.
Predictably, Artificial Intelligence is one of the trendiest topics of the decade, but data fuel the automation of AIs. Without Big Data, it would be impossible for AIs to function. For instance, chatbots are fed massive amounts of data to provide answers to any prompt. The AI analyses these data to respond to dialogue. Search Engine Journal reported that the GPT-3 has 175 billion parameters and was trained on 570 gigabytes of text. All Generative Pre-trained Transformers rely heavily on Big Data to function.
According to a report by IDC, the global data sphere will grow from 33 zettabytes in 2018 to 175 zettabytes by 2025, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 61%. Data has enabled the advancement and revolution of Machine Learning, thereby having another significant impact on the modern world. Forbes reported, in 2020, that many new tech companies, due to a large amount of data in databases, are logged with the challenge of collecting and processing data in the most efficient way, inducing the growth of Machine learning. In 2015, Pinterest acquired Kosei, a machine learning company that specialised in the commercial applications of content discovery and recommendation, helping Pinterest to collate and analyse millions of contents and images within split seconds in a very cost-efficient manner. Machine learning algorithms collect, analyse and integrate data for private and public organisations in order to enable them to control the user market. It is the foundation upon which modern technology such as artificial intelligence, Web 2.0, Web 3.0 and various other technological inventions are built. Intelligent data optimisation through Machine learning has opened new frontiers in internet technology. Amongst other technological advancements, Web 2.0 technology is at its peak, while web 3.0 technology is undergoing massive development and adoption.
Data is, indeed, the new oil of the modern world. Its impact on the contemporary world is truly unparalleled. Data drives accelerate and develop STEM, the machinery that drives the modern world’s technology. However, the increased reliance on data elicits ethical implications for society. In March 2018, India’s Biometric database, Aadhaar, reported a data breach that exposed the data of every registered Indian citizen. This scenario is one of many occurrences of a data breach. In 2021, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reported that the number of victims of data compromise rose to a steep 281 million in the first nine months of 2021. IBM also noted that the average data breach cost in 2021 was approximately about 4.24 million dollars. These alarming statistics beg the question, would a data-driven society elevate modern society to the next stage or cause more harm than good?