The New Front End of Innovation is Big Data

Posted by cbonner on February 16, 2012 @ 7:28 am

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Berth of Ideas A decade ago, technology futurists were forecasting the consumerization of IT. A decade later, mobile smartphones – including the advent of the mobile app – tablets and social web 2.0 practices were the collective vessel to ultimately bring this consumerization full circle. It has occured as predicted. The user experience and how we interface technology veered sharply during this period and disruption commenced. Because of this disruption, innovators focused heavily on front-end processes that could now involve virtual communities of co-creators and collaborators. Ideation services, rapid prototyping, a cult-like focus on UI/UX and crowdsourcing techniques all flourished allowing enterprises and individuals to front-load the development life-cycle and put a honus on the front end of innovation. This is all about to change yet again. Only this time, the new front end of innovation is a bit tougher to corral, manipulate and monetize. This time, the new front end of innovation is Big Data.

Data, Data Everywhere So Let’s Create Some Value

Do we care where the data is created or about the value that can be derived from it? Truth is, data, will be created by an impressive amount of traditional and not yet conceived sources. Self-Quantifiers monitoring their every move through sensor technologies, smart thermostats feeding smart grids, smart automobiles, smart machines, smart phones and seemingly smart people often posting not so smart videos, images and messages to the Pinterests and Twitters of the Internet will all add to this onslaught of neo-data creation. I think it’s fair and simple to say: Data will be created at an increasingly accelerated pace by an increasingly larger number of originators, both human and non-human. And unless you are a manufacturer of MEMS technology sensors, or actively seeking to implement the hardware for enterprise purposes, then your focus should shift away from how the data is created and instead concentrate on how you create value from all of this data. Here are 5 statements on Big Data to get your head around today.

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Big Data will affect every industry – not a select few as it currently stands.

Perhaps you’ve been dealing with Big Data for years. The financial and insurance worlds certainly have been. But there’s a good chance you aren’t in an industry already utilizing Big Data. That is about to end, so be prepared to act.
Big Data will be consumed by individuals

Individuals = your end-users. Data delivery will create new user experiences and new user experiences disrupt markets. It’s important to note, consumers and individuals won’t be consuming petaflops of data, that’s not what we mean. Instead, algorithms that filter, compress and pair what were seemingly disparate data sets will generate meaningful data and deliver the creation through applications the end-user is consuming.
Big Data will be visualized

There’s a reason Google is building these. Augmented reality will move beyond digital chacki and into real-time delivery of visualized data that enhances our everyday. This isn’t just for retail. Soldiers, surgeons, students and yes, shoppers will begin digesting visualized data that assuages behaviors. Data can help create the visualizations and predict which are best served, to whom, under what circumstances.

Enjoy this remarkable TED Talk on the beauty of data visualization and how patterns can be recognized once data is purposefully visualized.
Big Data will get social

Social won’t stop expanding and emerging in new and more entwined ways. Some industries will see bigger benefits from this social sharing than others. Again, it is the algorithms and applications built on top of Big Data that will create value.
Data will be hyperrelevant

The right data, delivered through the right medium, in the right moment in time. Those who can control the variables effectively will dominate. Predictive algorithms will make this possible.

3 Steps to Dominating in the Era of Big Data

Understand it. Understand the space, understand what it means when someone says Hadoop. Understand MapReduce and understand what lies beyond it. Here is a fantastic read by Edd Dumbill that is a nice foundation - What is Big Data?
Define Your Challenges, But Don’t Be Afraid of Surprises. What are you trying to answer, solve or improve? What do you wish you knew or could uncover? At the same time, if you only go looking for certain patterns, you are sure to miss out on ones that would have presented themselves as valuable. This, by the way, is a key reason Open Innovation techniques will play a huge role in Big Data value creation.
Concentrate on Value. Value in Big Data will come from algorithms that create potential value and applications that transform potential, into kinetic value delivery.