Is Data the Currency of the Future?

Technology has now infiltrated nearly every facet of human life, making the world more connected than its ever been. Think about it – in just a few short years a completely new tech vernacular has emerged, making commonplace inventive terms like trolling, cookies, memes and overgrams. One of the most descriptive, and now relevant phrases that has come into being as a result of the digital revolution is data mining. Data mining is exactly what it sounds like – digging for data. The idea that data is a valuable commodity is implicit in this phrase. And it is. In fact, recently data has become such a critical part of the business world and the world in general that the question has been raised: is data becoming a form of currency?

The intrinsic, quantifiable value of data is without question. Think about all the ways that data provides monetary value to companies. First, there is the obvious fact that data-informed insights are more likely to pay off. Eliminating gut-based decision-making allows companies to grow more consistently and methodically. Secondly, consider how the wealth of consumer insights available through data mining has allowed marketers and brand ambassadors to connect with their customers like never before. Marketing and outreach based on this newfound data-based vision have helped to drive sales and customer loyalty. Also, think of the money-saving internal adjustments that can be made because of data. Internal data analytics can be used for everything from assessing ways to lower utility costs to finding weaknesses along the supply chain in order to eliminate waste.

So, I guess you could say data is money. At the very least, data can help you to earn, save, and wisely invest money, which is the same thing if not better. The status of data as currency has been further legitimized by the massive shift toward a data-savvy approach to business. As the value of data has become apparent, more companies are concentrating their resources and efforts on the effective integration, management and analysis of data. Many businesses are now data migrating to all flash storage or cloud computing storage spaces, making data more accessible and analysis more feasible. The rise of DaaS (data-as-a-service) serves as further evidence that data is recognized by businesses as a considerable commodity, if not a currency.

Businesses that have shifted to a data-inclusive model have not only recognized that value of data in the moment – they have also foreseen the growing importance of data in the future. These premonitions have been confirmed to some degree by a study conducted by information technology consulting firm Capgemini. The study, entitled Big & Fast Data: The Rise of Insight Driven Business, interviewed 1000 senior business leaders and found that 61% believed that big data is becoming a driver of current revenues in its own right. 64 percent felt that big data is changing traditional boundaries in business. While not explicit or overwhelming, these statistics offer marginal support to the notion that data could be akin to currency in the future. Notably, many executives felt that data would become not only a more valuable commodity in the future, but also a vital, life-giving resource necessary for a companys survival. According to the study, 65 percent of respondents indicated their organizations are at risk of becoming uncompetitive due to the highly competitive data landscape. Similarly, 52 percent felt that their data efforts were hampered due to limitations in their IT development processes. Simply put, for every company that scrambles to claim the advantages of data, several other companies are left in the dust.

In a world where nearly every online action and interaction is tracked, tallied and used to generate valuable insights, it is only natural that data has become a literal, digital commodity. As business continue to find new ways to use data to create value, expect to see data emerge as a recognized asset – a form of currency in an increasingly digital business environment.