The answer is probity in the data

The start-ups of today might not even remember the Dotcom story, when investors went haywire about the information super highway opportunity; they saw an economic potential, threw immense amount of money at it without thinking it through and the whole thing disappeared at the beginning of the new millennium. To this day, nobody really knows the amount of wealth that has been lost during that era. At that time the world understood money but not data.

Fast forward, we are now submerged by data, virtual worlds are growing not just on the gaming scene; buildings can be fully erected virtually reducing building costs by solving problems virtually therefore avoiding them in real. We have social media too, virtual spaces where we can meet our contacts, friends and dates, wherever we are in the world as long as we have an internet connection. Companies like Google have mapped the planet which in turn allows us to virtually visit places where we might never go physically. Apps are helping us in practically all aspects of our lives. The potential seems limitless.

While the virtual is increasing its ability to replicate what’s real, there is an increasing growing gap between the people who have access to data and the people who don’t. In the real world, resources are depleting, population is growing in numbers, and with the challenges at hand of climate change, migration, access to food, energy and shelter, it looks like the real mission of the power within the data is to find a way not just to make the world a better place but to actually find a way to save it. Quite an elliptical shortcut.

Data is a piece of information, information is knowledge, knowledge is power, and with power comes responsibility. Here we go.

Let’s face it, we are in a situation where an individual can reshape the world by building a smart algorithm using Big Data from the comfort of their bedroom; in this same world it is possible for kids to make ridiculous amount of money by posting videos on YouTube that are watched by millions of viewers. How are we supposed to pass on traditional values of hard work, dedication and perseverance when children are witnessing overnight success stories? How do we convey the importance of altruism when fame is built on narcissism and number of viewers?

One element of response might be the one thing that companies are looking for more desperately than data: Probity and integrity.

The smart algorithm economy is real, it is reshaping the way we learn, the way we work, the way we relate to each other; it is evolving extremely fast and brings a lot of uncertainty. However, its potential, if harnessed properly, could help solving some of the current very urgent issues that are energy demand, food production and climate change, just to cite a few. By allowing a true holistic approach to large problem solving, it will help people and companies to collaborate at all new levels, reducing the silo approach that has proven so many times unhelpful by bringing more new problems than the one it was supposed to solve in the first place.

A tomorrow where building conditions will be maintained by taking into account the DNA of its occupants and adapt according to the awareness of their perceptions, in other words when buildings will be in tune with their occupants as much as the occupants will be in tune with the building they work or live in, maybe farfetched today but possible when Big Data will be at that level.

The question that remains is: How much are we ready, individually, to give back instead of taking endlessly? My understanding at this point in time is: Probity in the probability of the data is probably the answer.