It’s easy to sometimes forget just how much data we’re creating each day. We’re generating data when we work, when we’re at home, and in many cases, as we simply go through life. This information doesn’t just go into the ether. It’s important, mineable, and can help shift the way entire organizations think and react to a market. Data and analytics fuels digital business and play a major role in the future survival of organizations worldwide. However, data and analytics leaders are challenged by new legislative initiatives, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as by the key task of evaluating and defining the role and influence of artificial intelligence (AI). “Organizations feel the urgency to embrace digital business if they want to stay relevant and competitive,” adds Jorgen Heizenberg, research director at Gartner.
As Gartner illustrates, data and analytics leaders have to deal with delivering business outcomes from their data-driven programs today — and at the same time build an effective data and analytics organization that is fit for tomorrow. In order to meet these challenges, such leaders need to take ownership and develop a data and analytics strategy.
The key characteristics of such a strategy are trust, robust capabilities and insights. To help data and analytics leaders craft their strategy efficiently and successfully, they must familiarize themselves with pressing topics and trends, including blockchain, AI and GDPR. They should also have a deep knowledge of how to monetize data and establish a data-driven culture in their organization.
Have you noticed all of the new ‘privacy updates’ happening all over the place? If you’re an organization, there are real ramifications if you don’t accept. For example, if you’re in Europe, you won’t even be able to adjust your Nest thermostat unless you agree to the updated data privacy policy. Similarly, social media platforms have actually disabled thousands of accounts for not agreeing or signing up to the latest terms and conditions. Others, like news sites, are forced to change their EU delivery altogether. If you went to visit the LA Times website from most European countries, you’d be met with a simple message: “Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries.” They’re not the only ones. The list includes the Chicago Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, and others.
What happens if you don’t follow these new data governance guidelines?
What happens if there’s a breach of that data and you never allocated the right resources to good data warehousing or data storage best practices?
Well, there’s a price to pay if you’re in that boat. Not only can a breach impact your brand and consumer trust, you may very well be fined as well. As the GDPR guidelines point out, if a firm infringes on multiple provisions of the GDPR, it shall be fined according to the gravest infringement, as opposed to being separately penalized for each provision. So, on the lower levels, you may be fined up to €10 million, or 2% of the worldwide annual revenue of the prior financial year, whichever is higher. And, at the upper levels, you may be fined up to €20 million, or 4% of the worldwide annual revenue of the prior financial year, whichever is higher.
The penalty is calculated based on the nature of the infringement, intention, mitigation, preventative measures taken, history, level of cooperation, the data type, and more.
Bottom line – think about your own data strategy and see where it actually measures up.
Data can be a powerful tool, but it can also complicate things. So, what happens if you’re not just a consumer but maybe a mid-sized organization? What do you do if you’re trying to get started on a good data governance practice? How do you work with data and most of all leverage it? Let me give you a few thoughts to prepare you for the deluge of data in the coming years:
There are some great ways to segment data leveraging storage as well as networking technologies. Solutions around WAN management allow you to geofence data points to ensure they stay locked down. And, you can get pretty granular here too. You can force data to stay in a state, city, zip code, or even a building.
Technology aside, you’ll also potentially want to review how you log and audit data that flows through your network. And, if applicable, you may need to include functionality that facilitates the secure destruction of personal data when no longer required for legitimate business and compliance purposes, in accordance with record retention policies.
Our future will almost entirely become data-driven. The decisions we make, the applications we use, and the way we conduct business will all revolve around persistent connectivity and the data we create around it all. Data has the power to enable entire businesses. It also has the power to hurt people. As every business, city, and person becomes a digital entity, we’ll need to adjust data protection policies to ensure (as much as we can) privacy and security. Here’s the thing, when utilized properly with big data engines, data analytics, and even data visualization – data and the information that it carries can be a powerful ally for both people and the business.