Drowning in a sea of data or thriving as a Numerati?
I overheard two engineers joking the other day. One says to the other “There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't”.
A couple days later I decided to catch-up on some reading and took up a dated edition of Newsweek in which I read a short excerpt from Stephen Baker’s great new book called 'Numerati'. Baker posts a blurb in his website that describes the book as:
“A captivating look at how a global math elite is predicting and altering our behavior -- at work, at the mall, and in bed. Every day we produce loads of data about ourselves simply by living in the modern world: we click web pages, flip channels, drive through automatic toll booths, shop with credit cards, and make cell phone calls. Now, in one of the greatest undertakings of the twenty-first century, a savvy group of mathematicians and computer scientists is beginning to sift through this data to dissect us and map out our next steps. Their goal? To manipulate our behavior -- what we buy, how we vote -- without our even realizing it.”
I may be myopic but I think Mr. Baker is talking about enterprise mashups.
Reading the magazine article and excerpts, I started to think that it was odd that the ability to bring together and analyze data is perceived like a superpower. I can't say I agree that this is a skill possessed by a small elite or that the privileged few who have this skill who will dominate the ultra competitive and Über-data-centric (I like it when I can make up words) world we live in.
Certainly the ability to analyze reams of data is a task that requires special skills and dedication. However, JackBe's work and the experiences of the last few years with Enterprise Mashups has proven that the ability to gather data and to make sense of it consists more of a mind-set to which any intelligent professional can adhere to by implementing technology (such as Presto, our Enterprise Mashup offering).
We are seeing many use-cases (some of which we've been lucky enough to blog out) in which data from different applications and sources is being combined and filtered in innovative ways to find patterns that would not be easy to recognize otherwise. Some of these enterprise mashup implementations combine information from many internal systems to figure out who are the best people to work on a specific project. Others involve tracking numerous projects to ensure that everyone is aware of how their performance tracks to general company performance. We are seeing mashups solve issues in areas such as manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and lots of others industries.
I now realize I extremely am fortunate to be involved in this industry and to be able to make an impact in the appearance of many Numerati and Numerati-savvy companies.
For those interested in learning about Stephen Baker’s book, Numerati, here is a link to a great slide show.
