The embattled European Union appears to be looking to big
data to contribute to much needed economic salvation, but like the cloud
wherein big data lives, the ideas seem rather nebulous.
The idea was aired by Neelie Kroes vice-president of the
European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda in a speech to the
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Foundation Annual
Innovation Forum in Brussels in late March.
"There is no doubt that we have entered the era of big
data," Kroes said. "Some reckon that, currently, every two days, we
create as much information as was created from the dawn of civilisation to
2003. Every two days! And it's growing at 40% per year. We can't miss out on
that kind of growth opportunity."
According to Kroes, "In terms of economic value alone,
this is a market worth tens if not hundreds of billions of euros per year. At a
time when Europe desperately needs growth, this is exactly where we should be
looking to create new jobs and new opportunities."
Data, Kroes said, was "The new oil, because it's a fuel for innovation, powering and
energising our economy. Unlike oil, of course, this well won't run dry: we've
only just started tapping it."
Certainly data
won't run out. On the contrary, it's growing at an exponential rate, but unlike
oil, it won't keep you warm, it won't get you from A to B and you can't turn it
into all those plastic products essential to our way of life.
Nevertheless,
Kroes conjured a vision of a 'data-driven economy' that "needs a
helping hand, and the right framework." Data, Kroes said, "needs to
be freely available for use and re-use. It needs to be easy to transport and
inter-operate — without different rules and standards for every country and dataset.
And it needs the framework that safeguards privacy and builds trust."
And she spelt out three European Commission initiatives
towards this goal. "First, we are opening up new seams of data within a
vibrant single market. Much of this data is already here with us: but held by
our public administrations, locked up or unusable. This is data that is rich,
comprehensive, and that taxpayers have already paid for…
"Second, we need to build trust. People have
understandable concerns – like about how health data might be used. We can't do
all these wonderful things until we build public understanding and confidence.
… And third, Europe needs the industrial capacity to take the global lead in
data. We are helping that from the EU. We will continue to fund innovation in
the area of data products and services: from business intelligence and decision
support to added value services."
Kroes concluded: "All in all, open data is a huge
opportunity for Europe. A chance for citizens to benefit from amazing new
products and services, a chance to boost many sectors of our society – from
healthcare to democracy itself. And a chance to stimulate our economy,
energised by a strong European data industry. This is a revolution: and I want
the EU to be right at the front of it."
All of a sudden, it seems, big data is sexy, but it was not
at all clear from Kroes' speech how the EC proposes to distinguish between a
big data driven economy and what has for years been known as the IT industry,
which of course would be useless without data to process.
That said Australia should take note of the EC's very high
level, strategic focus on big data. It will certainly have a big impact on the
IT industry, the economy and society as a whole.
The first steps are being taken. Last month the AIIA held a
one-day summit in Canberra "Navigating Big Data". At its conclusion
delegates were offered "an exclusive [AIIA] communique recommending
regulatory changes or directions, and industry and community actions that will
facilitate safe and effective uptake of big data benefits in the future with
the intent of presenting key recommendations to relevant parts of government
and industry so Australia is best positioned to derive productivity and
economic gains from big data opportunities."
Meanwhile The Australian Government Information Management
Office (AGIMO) has released a for-comment draft of its big data issues paper.
AGIMO's ambitions are far more limited than the grand vision set out for the EU
by Kroes. It primarily hopes to improve the management and analysis of the data
sets that the government holds and improve government operations, policy
development and service delivery whilst ensuring adequate privacy and security
arrangements are in place.
If the EC's ambitions are even partially justified it's
clear that there needs to be a significant focus on the potential for big data
along lines indicated by the AIIA, across all areas of industry and government.
They all depend increasingly on data, and lots of it.
This article first appeared on iTWire, Australia's leading independent IT&T news and information source.
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