The battle for data: The most valuable asset of the 21st century
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 8:49 am
Digital Transformation is becoming more and more prevalent in all sectors: individuals, businesses, governments, etc., which is driving exponential growth in data. The results of a recent IDC report show that global data will grow from 33 Zettabytes (ZB) in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025.
Today, more data is created in just two years than all the data ever created in human history. And this appears to be just the beginning – leading market analysts estimate that the data explosion is only in its initial stages. It is clear that this presents unprecedented challenges – the global economy is being driven by data. Social and business behaviour enables and drives it, and it is clear that it will not experience any slowdown in the next decade.
Data, the oil of the new era
Not only is the amount of data we will generate important, but also the fact that more than half of this information will be stored in the cloud. The biggest increase in “data” will be the result of the more than 150 billion devices that will be connected to the Internet through IoT.
Some other interesting data from the IDC study that confirms this growth is that by 2025, each person anywhere in the world will interact with connected devices nearly 4,800 times a day , which basically means one interaction every 18 seconds .
Another numerical evidence that data will have more and more value in any social or economic sphere is that there are now more than 5 billion consumers who interact with data ; in just seven years that number will be 6 billion , which represents 75% of the world's population .
oil
Its growth and value are such that the documentary 'Free money: the case for basic income' addresses the issue of the possibility of implementing a universal basic income in which all citizens receive a certain am hungary mobile phone number list ount of money annually from the State. The documentary raises many questions and reflections, and uses the case of Alaska and oil revenue as one of the examples where this formula has been implemented.
Just a year ago, a Silicon Valley company, 23andMe, which analyses DNA to determine genetic predisposition to diseases or ancestry, closed a multi-million dollar deal with the pharmaceutical company GSK to give it access to its database, made up of more than five million genetic profiles. This is a clear example of the exponential business that data can become. If we transpose this example to areas such as cities or governments, the power of information is greater.
We are entering a new stage in history in which the evolution of our economic, political, social and cultural systems will be influenced by the information obtained from our data. All of this will shape our consumption patterns, voting patterns, preferences, access to certain positions, our travel routes, eating habits, etc.
The extraction and exploitation of the information that our data generates is a “gold mine or a large oil well” in which only a small group of actors have the precious permits to excavate and exploit .
Europe prepares a plan to enter the battle for data
The European Commission will start the new year with a lot of work ahead of it, and more specifically in its battle to boost and level the playing field in the digital sector. To achieve progress, effort and coordination between various interests and governments is required. Beyond a consensus, important steps must begin to be taken in an agile manner, if Europe does not want to continue to fall behind in the battle for data.
Today, more data is created in just two years than all the data ever created in human history. And this appears to be just the beginning – leading market analysts estimate that the data explosion is only in its initial stages. It is clear that this presents unprecedented challenges – the global economy is being driven by data. Social and business behaviour enables and drives it, and it is clear that it will not experience any slowdown in the next decade.
Data, the oil of the new era
Not only is the amount of data we will generate important, but also the fact that more than half of this information will be stored in the cloud. The biggest increase in “data” will be the result of the more than 150 billion devices that will be connected to the Internet through IoT.
Some other interesting data from the IDC study that confirms this growth is that by 2025, each person anywhere in the world will interact with connected devices nearly 4,800 times a day , which basically means one interaction every 18 seconds .
Another numerical evidence that data will have more and more value in any social or economic sphere is that there are now more than 5 billion consumers who interact with data ; in just seven years that number will be 6 billion , which represents 75% of the world's population .
oil
Its growth and value are such that the documentary 'Free money: the case for basic income' addresses the issue of the possibility of implementing a universal basic income in which all citizens receive a certain am hungary mobile phone number list ount of money annually from the State. The documentary raises many questions and reflections, and uses the case of Alaska and oil revenue as one of the examples where this formula has been implemented.
Just a year ago, a Silicon Valley company, 23andMe, which analyses DNA to determine genetic predisposition to diseases or ancestry, closed a multi-million dollar deal with the pharmaceutical company GSK to give it access to its database, made up of more than five million genetic profiles. This is a clear example of the exponential business that data can become. If we transpose this example to areas such as cities or governments, the power of information is greater.
We are entering a new stage in history in which the evolution of our economic, political, social and cultural systems will be influenced by the information obtained from our data. All of this will shape our consumption patterns, voting patterns, preferences, access to certain positions, our travel routes, eating habits, etc.
The extraction and exploitation of the information that our data generates is a “gold mine or a large oil well” in which only a small group of actors have the precious permits to excavate and exploit .
Europe prepares a plan to enter the battle for data
The European Commission will start the new year with a lot of work ahead of it, and more specifically in its battle to boost and level the playing field in the digital sector. To achieve progress, effort and coordination between various interests and governments is required. Beyond a consensus, important steps must begin to be taken in an agile manner, if Europe does not want to continue to fall behind in the battle for data.