Data Is the Oxygen. It’s What Moves the World.

“Demand for innovation is growing, and it’s growing rapidly,” commented Accenture’s Jitendra Kavathekar at the Delphix Data Event in San Francisco recently. “We need to connect people to technology to drive change around the globe.”

We sit on the cusp of a major technological breakthrough that will have long-lasting impact on the ways that we live our lives; striving for deeper understanding of science, human behavior and better ways to live.

And, as Jitendra explains, to unlock this potential, we need to think differently, to tap into our inner passion and curiosity and to overcome what many are calling an “Innovation Gap.”

Because most organizations today are under immense pressure to deliver innovation to market faster than ever before, this Innovation Gap is particularly dire. Organizations are fundamentally under equipped to handle the speed needed to react to changing market dynamics.

Why? The meaningful data these organizations are collecting are overwhelming their data management capabilities. The people who need it, can’t get access to it in a timely way, which drags down the pace of innovation. “There’s friction in the movement of data,” continued Jitendra, further pointing out that it’s hard to access, secure and distribute. And, the larger the organization, the greater the data friction and the greater the impediment to speed.

Constant friction between companies, people, and technology slow digital transformation initiatives until they reach a grinding halt, wasting $400B(USD), per year.*

“Having a data-driven approach is really powerful,” said Jay Nath, Head of Innovation for the City of San Francisco, during the discussion.

Jay has spearheaded an effort within the government to find new ways to open up access to data to create new services for citizens that fundamentally improve their quality of life. His team discovered that, when they connected data to people, they could do things that were not previously possible. His team, for instance, recently developed news way to understand, in real time, where all potholes exists in the city or the location of all the trees that it maintains. They developed an extensive sensor technology to understand the effectiveness of painted curbs on parking and traffic, something not possible five to ten years ago. They also recently partnered with Google to develop algorithms to better understand the reasons why people call 911 and can provide city legislators new information to drive more effective policy decisions.

At Accenture, Jitendra’s team worked with a local bank in Australia to create a modern day “Farmer’s Almanac” that digitizes farms and helps farmers understand when and where to plant and harvest food. Part of the bank’s goal to deliver innovation quicker and become a software company, this new service uses sensors and data to bring farmers real-time data and to help automate some of their most laborious tasks. The bank was able to take all the data from all of the farms that uses its service to help the country learn about climate change and improve its farm system to help people grow healthier food, faster than ever.

What’s the secret?

“Data is the oxygen, it moves the world,” added Jitendra.

We have a thirst for tons of data, able to be used to empower people and team to breathe life into new experiences. He continues, “Access to the data in this ecosystem is so critical and you have to reduce the friction. How do we get that data to the right place, really fast? It created demand for what type of stuff that you guys do at Delphix.”

How does data flow within your business? Is it freely, securely available to the people that need it? Get a free trial of Delphix to learn how you can drive important change in your organization: https://www.delphix.com/demo

*ConsultancyUK