Big data + Big networks= Big changes
AS THE WORLD BECOMES EVER MORE CONNECTED, AS PEOPLE NETWORK AND AS QUALITY OF DATA IMPROVES IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF HUMANITY WILL TAKE A STEP BACK AND START TO GRASP ANOTHER REALITY? THERE ARE SIGNALS THAT THIS MAY BE ABOUT TO HAPPEN.
Signals: from being seen as nothing more than an advanced adding machine, the computer and the digitization it makes possible have offered multi dimensions of new possibilities. But is the “killer app” yet to be invented? Are we just not still digitizing last-century business models? Is society only just waking up to the possibilities its wireless, networked, big data society offers? Signals show that mobile devices connected to big data can indeed mean significant changes to how we farm, and that just by looking at big data we can start to grasp insights previously out of reach. The consequences are huge, and present a real challenge to policy makers and leaders as well as opportunities to entrepreneurs.
The links below point to big data being collected and used, and big networks forming in ways that will challenge the fundamentals of how we manage society and run our businesses. The wise leader would do well to follow these signals.
Monsanto has recently acquired a giant within big data, and is providing farmers with a mobile app that combines data from weather forecasts with modeling microclimate conditions to show when and where to plant. Fields in the US have been mapped to a 10 by 10 meter resolution. A crop chemical company becomes a big data company too.
A new start-up is launching a series of satellites so small they take a fraction of the energy of conventional satellites to launch. Using an open interface people can create their own applications using the data to deliver a wide range of services – some we have not even thought of yet. Viewing the planet in this way can open up completely new ways to take care of the Earth.
Maybe the shift in understanding started with the photos of the Earth from space. What had been a theory back in the 1500s we could see with our own eyes that one planet, we have one planet, and that’s all we have.
After years of sifting through data, modelling and following actual trends scientists are confident that human activity is affecting the climate system. Had we not had big data and the big netwrok of scientists involved we had probably never come to this conclusion. We have reached a point where all of us feel responsibility for the planet, the arguments are logical and persuasive.
Modelling human networks
Data crunching capability makes it possible to see who is talking to whom about various subjects, even giving us the ability to study human behavior online. This links goes to the TED talk of Nicholas Christakis
Indeed, there is a possibility that number-crunching economists will be able to sift through terabytes of historical data to challenge even the most cherished beliefs about human nature and economics. This is what Thomas Piketty did.
The blog on stephenhinton.org argues that by using big data to create an overall picture, people can form an understanding by stepping back and considering what they have seen, and then go on to form large networks to create the change they want to see
Alternative economic policy think tanks like the Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation are saying that as everything in the economy is digitized, and information about sales, unemployment, benefit costs etc is available real-time, it might be better to steer the economy based on how it is actually performing rather than using monetary measure points alone.
They are proposing a real-time monitoring of the economy connected to flexible steering mechanisms and a good deal of room to maneuver to market forces. The Foundation believes market forces need to be given clear boundaries within which to operate, but be left alone to solve problems.
Arrange a simulation session to learn more about how big data on real performance, rather than relying on money measurements alone, can create the circular, high performing economy.
To illustrate their principles, the Foundation TSSEF is offering, together with Stephen Hinton Consulting, to run a simulation set up as a management game. They promise everyone will gain at least one or two insights from simulating the economy.
Contact us to discuss simulations of economic policy or how we can facilitate dialogues around how to handle big data big network issues and opportunities in your organization.