As with most topics, there are multiple sides. On one hand, fears of automation about AI and machines have prompted many thought-provoking articles and books such as Only Humans Need Apply, while documentaries such as The Great Hack focus on how data pervades our lives via social media.
From the other perspective, data for good is a real movement, bringing the public and private sectors together through efforts like the Private Sector Roundtable and NGOs like C40 Cities, which is using data to help the mayors of the world’s largest cities address climate change issues.
The one constant is a sense of inevitability. IDC is forecasting a tenfold increase in worldwide data by 2025, and data is now regularly discussed as the driver of the fourth industrial revolution and referred to by some as the second language of business.
The underlying thread I see in all these areas is the need to increase data literacy.
As defined by MIT, data literacy is "the ability to read, work with, analyze and argue with data." As the nature of work changes, our skills need to continually evolve to keep pace. Communities like the Data Literacy Project, which my company is a founding member of, have emerged to offer free courses and resources to help anyone start or make progress on their data literacy journey. Gartner and others are heavily discussing the role of data literacy’s measurable impact on corporate performance. And the need to close the data literacy gap is now on the radar of C-level executives like never before, with market leaders like Amazon announcing upskilling pledges. This is all encouraging to see.
