Breaking news! Digital transformation needs data! So sayeth the sages at Forbes. In other news, water is wet and the sky is still blue. Now, that you’ve had a moment to recover from that shock, let’s actually spend some time thinking about this.
The first thing to note is that digital transformation is something that’s been going on for decades at this point, just not by that name. Digital transformation is just another buzzword that the corporate world likes to invent and throw around to sound smarter than they are. So, what is it? When we strip away the corporate sheik and the buzzwords, what is this process that has been going for so long and how is data involved?
The process is simply that of moving from an analog to a digital world. The first calculators were a part of than transformation, email another, as well as the move to HDTV. One of the most impressive part of society’s ongoing digital transformation is the rise of the humble mp3. Due to the digitization of music it has become available virtually anywhere streaming over your phone. A whole generation has already grown up never having heard and maybe never having seen an analog cassette tape. About the only analog music you can find in the stores now is an old turntable.
Now, that all seems fairly mundane. But it only seems that way. Every one of those innovations reveals another or was made possible by another. Streaming mp3s are only possible due to the internet and massive servers storing music files, which represents a significant shift from physical to digital media.
There are also a variety of corporations still working on making better use of their digital assets, using sensors throughout their facilities to track the production and movement of products and make the process more efficient. Naturally, every single sensor is putting out data that is stored in a server and then analyzed. The process of analysis has also undergone a digital transformation. Once, it was all done by people. Now, there are complex algorithms that can handle the simpler kinds of statistical analysis.
The digital world is taking over in others ways as well. There are already automated semitrucks on the road, bringing loads of goods and material to different locations in the country. Some of the simpler articles online are now written by a computer rather than a reporter. In some places, even retail stores are getting automated. Amazon for example has set up retail stores in New York where you never have to go through a checkout line. The store tracks what you get off the shelf and bills your account accordingly. In Japan, convenience stores are moving in the same direction. And even in small towns in the US department stores are letting people scan their purchases with their phones and heading out of the store.
To bring things back to data, all these moves were data driven, data that at least suggested that products could be delivered more efficiently by moving further into the digital world. An unfortunate aspect of the transformation is that it is largely driven by a desire to increase profits. Of course, there are still numerous benefits that derive from that motivation, but what if the desire to help people was the real driver? What if we gathered analyzed data and then applied with profit as the secondary goal and creating a better world first? Is it even possible?
The answer to that is ‘yes’. As someone wise once said “put first things first and the secondary things will follow.” This is what TARTLE is trying to accomplish, to harness our continual digital transformation not to merely drive the bottom line but to help people and given them the freedom to develop themselves and reach their full potential. That is why we want to give you control of your data. By being in control again, you are also an active part of the process with the freedom to decide where and how much you even want to participate in the digital transformation. You get to decide how much you and your data will be involved, not a faceless government or corporations.
What’s your data worth?
