WHY DATA IS NEW OIL
Introduction
The oil refinery has been the symbol of extraction and refining of power for decades now. Oil has been, for decades, a source of wealth for many, especially Middle East countries. It has been a valuable asset to many countries, helping them become rich and develop due to their natural oil resource. Oil is a key catalyst of development. It is a highly valued commodity, which many rely on and depend on in their daily life. It plays a big role as it provides money that makes them buy what they want.
Importance of Data
Just as oil is to many people and countries, Data is of great value now. It can be compared its significance to oil. Data’s value is fundamental in this century as everything is relying on it. Those who know how to extract valuable data, are reaping benefits and are enjoying its fruits.
In this age, we are depending on data to move the digital economy. Every day, we are gathering millions of data in seconds. Every organization, company and the government is relying on data to do its activities. Without it, everything will come to a stop. Data has the power for any institution to grow to great heights.
Data gathering, collection, and processing
Even though there is, no price tag placed on data and it is not traded, like an oil barrel that does not mean the value of data is not known. Much-unstructured data is being collected around the world from websites, and platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
Just like in the oil industry, all oil big players battling to secure the most bountiful oil reserves as fast as possible to extract and monetize it, the same is happening in the Data economy. Facebook, Twitter, and Google are planet platforms extracting and churning through zettabytes of data produced by their users. They are gathering this data, collecting and trying to make sense of it.
They are learning users’ behavior, making sure that they know everyone’s favorite clothes, shoes, and gadgets so that they will do marketing to them by showing them the adverts that resonate with what they are looking for.
Robotics and Machine learning
It is a big data world. The data that was being produced in a year in 1998, is being produced in a second in 2022! Things have changed. The world is depending on data to develop robotic machines that rely on machine learning techniques. With the advancement in technology, everyone can make purchases online at the click of a button from e-commerce platforms. As we do all these online transactions, we are sharing data with online e-commerce platforms like Amazon, which is gathered to be used as a resource for the company.
Social Media is a big player in big data
Social media too has become the place for collecting data. It is where the magic happens. There is a recording of everyone’s behavior as they click, like pictures and videos on the social platforms. As users like photos, update their status, and share information, this data is being collected and processed as big data.
The Ads that usually pop up as users continue browsing are presented to them by the use of this big data. This is done when the big data is processed and depending on the user’s preferences and behaviors, the targeted Ads appear on his or her screen. That is the power of data!