Data Analysis: Influence on Society and Business
May 26th, 2016
2016 brings new trends and developments in the field of business intelligence and data analysis. Analysts predict the emergence of new forms of data analysis that will give businesses new opportunities and advantages.
Thanks to data analysis, businesses will be able to discover new ways of working, find new marketing strategies, new markets, and new areas to tackle. We already wrote about big data getting smaller, today let’s focus on the data analysis in general and how this will affect business and society.
Data Analysis Specialists - New Kings of the Job Market
“Rising star” in the many areas of business and industries is the Data Scientist job position. Data analysis experts are in high demand in various business fields and it’s not by chance that Harvard Business School called this the “sexiest job of the XXI century.” Experts believe that this type of analysts is likely to become one of the most popular not only in the IT sector, but also in other areas. The same research shown the increase in demand for Python programmers (which increased by 96% compared to 2014). Two more specializations for which the demand is expected to surge is Computer Systems Analysts and Information Research Scientists.
Geolocation and Data Analysis
One more important factor in 2016: the popularity of data analysis instruments that use geolocation information. These tools will be useful in the traditional retail sector - they will help to improve the store strategy, using the data about customers’ whereabouts and, as a result, the revenue will increase. Geolocation and data analysis will be also used by online stores, for example, by offering various goods taking local weather or regional events into account.
Data Analysis - More Power and Influence
Collecting more and more data of various types and analyzing it, companies will be able create more complex visual models that will, in turn, help to predict the development of certain situations and assess the consequences of different options chosen in those situations. For example, data analysis will help to investigate the consumer goods basket to see what customers are buying and what would they like to buy. Another example - data analysis will allow to calculate the effects of different business steps, for instance, the price increase for some or all goods, change in goods’ placement on the shelves, or change of product descriptions on the e-commerce website pages.
Data Analysis Will Turn Internet of Things Into Internet of Everything
Companies are seeking to extract useful results from all possible data and data is becoming quite abundant. Thus, “Internet of Things” as a platform for connecting devices to the Internet and communication between them can become an “Internet of Everything” platform, where you will be able to get practically any info you need for analysis. This data will not be limited to individual devices, sensors, and equipment, but more like comprehensive information (even server logs’ data and data from the Internet).
In addition, the data for the analysis will be taken from unusual for now sources, for example, oil rigs, weather satellites in space, mobile phone towers. These data from the “outside” will create opportunities for creation and management of security perimeters and will bring a new level to the very understanding of personalization. The “Internet of Everything” will require not just new data management systems, but also decision making and analysis tools. This trend is closely linked with another trend mentioned in our blog - transforming big data into smart data. It is the “Internet of Everything” tech that will allow to collect small amounts, yet more relevant, data for analysis.
Moreover, the user information from the Internet will influence online and real environment of the person that it’s possible that there will be protests and emergence of users who will be against sharing their data and tools will emerge that will help them make their data private.
Data Privacy Problem Aggravation
The more data is collected by companies, businesses, and governments, the more the problem of confidentiality and security for such data arises. People begin to think more and more about the issue of identity theft and using their own information against them. The popularity of data analysis tools disrupts the confidentiality even more. For example, using data analysis can help strangers find out daily routine and route of a person, his / her food preferences, medical diagnosis, and many other details. At the moment, government is controlling access to data; it’s likely that in the future, the access to the data analysis tools will also brought under regulation.
The traditional flagship in the fight for privacy is the European Union. In Europe, strict rules regarding data security have been established over the last few months. Businesses have to assume certain responsibility to ensure data security, restrict access by unauthorized persons, and other data security issues. Over time, we can expect for such initiatives to be promoted in other countries as well.
