Archiv der Kategorie: Trends

Future topics, trends and scenarios are discussed in this section.

Ready for Big DATA

After more than one hundred years, the processing of data is still the main business of IT. The development and the architecture of IT-systems as well as the world-wide networking were at the center of the attention for a long time. Now the IT-industry rediscovered its original topic, the processing of data. With Big Data the renaissance of data processing has an irresistible title. The topic is interesting, because

  • Data is stored everywhere,
  • Contents are interpretable, and
  • the skillful question is difficult to find.

Big DATA offers remedies, in order to process the giant quantities of data, to facilitate the evaluation of contents and to simplify the formulation of the questions. What do the users have to consider in order being ready for Big DATA?

BigData Lupe

  • Data is everywhere
    Despite long-term consolidation and standardization of the IT, the corporate data is still saved in various systems and formats, on different media, and protected in various ways by passwords. Additionally the master data, like e.g. customer or product data are still stored redundantly in several databases that are controlled by different responsible executives. The data quality (e.g. correctness, completeness, consistency or timeliness) is difficult to assess. Eventually, apples are mixed with oranges and then evaluated. These disadvantages will be amplified by Big DATA – following the slogan: Faster Disaster.
  • Data is interpretable
    The interpretation of contents depends on several aspects. Actually, only the original creators of data know their initial purpose. Over time other employees use this data for daily business. They update the existing and add further contents with their own interpretation. Occasionally, the data will be evaluated, consolidated and prepared in tables and diagrams. The analysts interpret the results and derive new insights from it. In retrospect, the participants will not be able to remember, what their original understanding of the data was. The same will happen better and faster with the new Big DATA.
  • It is difficult to ask skillfully
    New approaches, like Data Mining, offer the possibility to search through data without distinct questions. Thereby, programs find patterns that will be examined afterwards. This unveils regular patterns that result from frequent repetition of fraud. On this basis concrete questions can be formulated, e.g. what did customer XY buy and did not pay. For the effectual use of Big DATA the users must learn to ask SMART questions: Specific, Measurable, Adequate, Relevant and Testable Before you start the examination, the indicators of the answers should be specified. Eventually, the format of the report and the structure of the result are determined. The achieved insights can be used more easily in the business.

Bottom line: It would be a fatal and expensive error to consider Big DATA as an automatism that provides the solutions for the operational tasks. The amount of data doubles itself every two years. Therefore we will have to deal globally by 2020 with 40 zettabytes according to IDC http://ow.ly/Ao5v7 . Now is a good moment to make yourself ready for Big DATA.

Sharing with others – is this actually allowed?

Sharing means to give or lend something that belongs to you, completely or partly to others. Perishables that could not be consumed will be used (e.g., goods with expiration date). Thereby, consumer durables are better utilized (e.g. Car sharing). Immaterial goods, like knowledge, increase the value and the spreading through additional use. Important conditions for sharing are owners, who are ready to put their property at somebodies disposal. Sharing with others – is this actually allowed?

sharing

In principle, the owners of goods should have the right to dispose freely their belongings. Nevertheless, there are also always obligations attached to the possession.

  • Food may not be shared in Germany, if it has a consumption date „Use by … “ as well as e.g. raw fish, minced meat, raw egg dishes for which a constant cooling chain is not provable (in German only: http://foodsharing.de/lebensmittelrecht). Food with the label „Best used before …“ on it can also be shared after expiration of the best-before date..
  • Consumer durables are e.g. cars, bicycles, apartments and devices of all kind. For some goods, however, there are legal aspects that exclude sharing. The car has an insurance that is tied to specific drivers or excludes commercial usage. This is also valid, if one shares his/her rented flat with others, without permission to sublease. For all goods, it remains also the question of liability, if, for example, the brakes of the vehicle do not work.
  • Since there is knowledge, it is shared, e.g. the newspaper or the book, that are passed from one to the other or the newest hit of lady Gaga. As long as it is a physical object, sharing should be without any problem. As soon as, however‚ contents are ‘only’ shared by being copied, we are already confronted with copyright questions. Not to forget the secret documents, which are shared with the public by Whistleblowers. Additionally, this includes business documents that are shared with acquaintance.
  • A popular form is to share work. Immediately the question of moonlighting as well as the liability and/or compensation of damages comes up. If somebody is injured, or somebody is dying, or there is a material damage in the course of such a sharing, these incidents are normally not covered by private insurances.

Nothing is more blessed, than giving. Some questions are valid for all forms of sharing.

  • Can sharing have a price?
  • May shared food or the use of a car or lending books or concreting the cellar cost money?
  • How to look at this cash flow from fiscal point of view (keyword: financial advantage)?
  • Does a new niche emerges, in which new business models go around existing bureaucratic rules as well as the rights and obligations of the established businesses?

If we go again toward market and bartering, the legal framework should protect givers and takers equally.

Bottom line: At all times existed the social sharing. This is where the positive look at this optimized use of resources comes from. We need an appropriate legal framework, in order not to criminalize the sharers, the givers and the takers, with this new form of social exchange.