This article was originally published in Telegana Today

Hyderabad: With the world moving towards a more connected society, the amount of data generation by not only companies but also individuals is huge. Having said that not many people have been able to realise the true potential of this huge data that is available and how it can be leveraged to change the lives of people. Reiterating this viewpoint, experts from the field of Big Data are of the opinion that while data collection is one part of the concept it is also important to translate that into a marketable product. 

Speaking at the ninth annual ICT4D conference, Frederic Pivetta, Managing Partner, Dalberg Data Insights said, “We are seeing that for a long time data has been used just for pilot case study or for research purposes. However, we feel that it is important that data moves from having just an academic approach to marketable product approach. We need to move from just having data sets to getting algorithms.”

Pivetta showed how the group has moved from just gathering data sets from the Telecom industry to actually gaining insights from the data. They have been able to assess mobility in many countries by using these data sets.

Agreeing with Pivetta, Radha Basu, chief executive officer, iMerit Technology Services said, “In today’s world, data is everywhere on YouTube, in self-driving cars and in front of us. However, what is important for companies today is to see how we can get actionable insights into the data sets and that will determine if it is hype or reality.”

iMerit is into skilling of young women in digital technologies like machine learning and data services. These services are delivered as insights that are taken action by their clients.

In addition, David Bergvinson, Director General, Icrisat opined that many industries are getting blurred due to Big Data and human beings are getting interconnected to different technologies. The richness in technology is coming from having different individual data sets and it is important for companies to leverage on this richness, he added.