Schumpeter writes:
- In 2010 the world stored enough data to fill 60,000 Libraries of Congress.
- There are more than 4 billion mobile-phone users (12% of them smartphones).
- YouTube claims to receive 24 hours of video every minute.
- Manufacturers have embedded 30m sensors into their products, converting passive objects into data-generating nodes in the internet of things.
- The number of smartphones is increasing by 20% a year and the number of sensors by 30%.
- Tesco, a British retailer, collects 1.5 billion nuggets of data every month and uses them to adjust prices and promotions.
- Williams-Sonoma, an American retailer, uses its knowledge of its 60m customers (which includes such details as their income and the value of their houses) to produce different iterations of its catalogue.
- Amazon, an online retailer, has claimed that 30% of its sales are generated by its recommendation engine (“you may also like”).
- The German Federal Labour Agency managed to cut its annual spending by €10 billion ($14 billion) over three years while also reducing the length of time people spent out of work.
- MGI argues that the data deluge could create a new wave of productivity growth. Properly used, big data could save the American health-care system $300 billion a year and the European public sector €250 billion. It could also enable retailers to increase their operating margins by 60%.
With seemingly inescapable trends like these, it's intriguing to see the pressures on some of my clients: one company is able to produce a ranking of its most popular products - once every six months! I have a phrase, "It's an IT project - therefore it's all about people!" And we're seeing a culture shift as people consider the possibilities of a new way of working.
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