The powers and possibilities of big data

Last week I attended an event at NESTA about the powers and possibilities of big data, where Hans Peter Brondmo (Head of Social Software at Nokia), Haakon Overli (Managing Partner of Dawn Capital), Max Jolly (Director of Media Solutions at dunnhumby) and Megan Smith (General Manager of google.org and Vice-President of New Business Development) spoke about issues such as privacy (Nokia), investing in big data (Dawn Capital), using data to transform the way a business works (dunnhumby works with Tesco on their Clubcard), and channelling data for social good (google.org).

Hans Peter Brondmo mentioned the fact that privacy the way we thought of it before, before the days of the web and mobile, is over and we need to get used to it. Having said that, enabling people to 'own their digital souls' isn't impossible technically, it is just difficult in terms of infrastructure: it needs a framework that doesn't currently exist.

Haakon Overli spoke like a true entrepreneur about how companies can maximize their chances of success (answer: keep your customers happy!). He also mentioned that big companies need to be careful about how they use data because they can screw things up for the smaller companies that follow them. He mentioned the importance of applying intelligence to data, without which all data is pretty much meaningless. Examples are wonga.com, the site that provides small loans to individuals based on their credit history and Cognitive Match, which matches customers with content in real-time (both of which Dawn Capital is an investor in).

Max Jolly spoke about how understanding what customers put into their shopping baskets helps Tesco operate more efficiently and enables them to transform the way they do business by, for example, putting the customer at the heart of what the company does, and helping them make decisions which in some companies are probably left to the marketing team. Deciding which stores should store what products, for example, is a science more than an art.

I was glad that the panel had at least one woman. Megan Smith spoke about some of the ways Google.org uses data for social good, such as Earth Engine, Flu Trends, Health Speaks and Crisis Response. She made the point that things that have not been adjacent in the past, are adjacent now (for example, when you leave a room, you can still stay in touch with what is happening inside it thanks to the web and mobile phone).

You can watch videos of each speaker here:

The power and possibilities of big data - Hans Peter Brondmo from NESTA UK on Vimeo.

The power and possibilities of big data - Haakon Overli from NESTA UK on Vimeo.

The power and possibilities of big data - Max Jolly from NESTA UK on Vimeo.

The power and possibilities of big data - Google's Megan Smith from NESTA UK on Vimeo.