Despite all the ways enterprises can slice customer data, they’ve struggled mightily to put the pieces together into a coherent customer profile. This past September, Microsoft, SAP, and Adobe announced they’re taking on that unglamorous challenge with their Open Data Initiative. In what’s widely seen as a challenge to Salesforce’s dominance of the customer relationship […]
Tag Archives: data
3 Ways to Use a Controversial Type of Data That Will Help You Succeed
The debate about companies’ use of location data has gained a lot of traction this year. However, that shouldn’t make you shy about using it. In the right hands, used the right way, location data is an invaluable tool in any market. Your competition knows this, and the debate isn’t slowing them down, either. According […]
Marketers, You’re Wasting Your Data
Data has never been more critical to marketing success. Companies are striving to employ the latest analytics to drive improvement in all areas of operations. The good news is that the majority of consumers are willing to provide data, given the right conditions. In fact, a 2018 survey by Acxiom found that 58 percent of […]
Are AI and Big Data the Economic Levelers We’ve Been Looking for?
For all of the “isms” supposedly being felled by enlightened Americans, the U.S. economy remains stunningly unfair. Take racism. On one hand, interracial marriages have grown fivefold in the 50 years since Loving v. Virginia, which legalized the practice. On the other, the average median household wealth of African-Americans declined by 75 percent between 1983 […]
Despite the Hype, Big Data Might Not Be What You Need
The big data trend continues, and more and more companies are hopping on the bandwagon. While many organizations assume they need big data’s wisdom, often the “small” operational data they already have will do just fine. Operational data is internal data, such as the data that gives Uber its ability to dispatch cars. Big data, […]
Has Martech Made Things Too Complicated?
The arrival of martech was heralded as the next stage of marketing. These platforms enabled marketers to gather endless reams of data so they could reconfigure their approach and boost their conversions. The theory was that the better businesses got to know their customers, the more appealing they could make their offers. What actually happened […]
What Does the Repeal of Net Neutrality Mean for Your Data Security?
Although FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stated, “I strongly support a free and open internet,” the FCC officially repealed net neutrality on June 11th. The original net neutrality laws protected the internet by referring to it as a common carrier. That meant it fairly provided a service like utilities to everyone. However, repealing net neutrality laws […]
Could the General Data Protection Regulation Be the First Step Toward Real Data Protection?
If you scour the internet for your personal data, stop. It’s already out there in the hands of companies, and no number of removal requests will change that. What you should be worried about is whether executives at these companies are asking themselves the right question: What constitutes ethical use of consumer data? What if you […]
How Big Data Can Help Millions of Refugees
Although it can be difficult to imagine for the millions of us who live in safety and comfort, 24 people are forced to leave their homes every minute and become refugees. These are people faced with violence, political unrest, or persecution, and it’s simply not safe for them to stay in their home country. Currently, […]
The Evolution of Healthcare Data: 5 Little Known Facts
Data is absolutely crucial in modern healthcare. Without data, doctors have very little context for their patients’ health—they don’t have historical benchmarks, making it much harder to treat medical problems. Big data, which many hospitals are beginning to integrate into their day-to-day operations, has the power to help diagnose patients, improve outcomes, cut down on […]
In Mark Zuckerberg We Trust? The State and Future of Facebook, User Data, Cambridge Analytica, Fake News, Elections, Russia and You
In the wake of Cambridge Analytica, data misappropriation, #deletefacebook, calls for regulation and pending testimony to U.S. Congress, Facebook announced a series of initiatives to restrict data access and also a renewed selfie awareness to focus efforts on protecting people on the platform. What’s more notable however is that Mark Zuckerberg also hosted a last-minute, […]
Is Business Headed for a Cognitive-First Future?
As the world generates more and more data — at a clip of 2.5 quintillion bytes each day — it simultaneously struggles to manage it. With humans unable to manually process such large amounts of data and analyze its implications, the business world has to turn to machines to take on some of the load. Smart […]
Cybersecurity experts paint bleak picture of robot security
Robots are still an uncommon sight in the home, but most tech analysts project a huge increase in the amount of droids deployed to do tasks in the next ten years. It might not be that long before helper robots, picture C3P0 from Star Wars or a Mr. Handy from Fallout, are handling everything from […]
Electronic teddy bears the latest target for hackers
Recorded messages spoken to teddy bears could be the latest target for hackers, according to a report from security researcher Troy Hunt. CloudPets toys, the maker of electronic stuffed animals, left the personal information available for anyone to see. This included details of the child and recorded messages. See Also: Smart cities will soon buzz […]
Major Russian banks attacked by powerful IoT devices-focused botnet
Five major Russian banks were targeted late last week by a botnet comprised of 24,000 computer and IoT devices. The attacks came from devices in 30 countries, including the United States, India, and Taiwan. The attacks came in the form of distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS), which sends millions of requests to servers, taking them offline. From there, […]
Should the Internet of Vibrating Things be worried?
It’s been a bad period for Canada’s Standard Innovation Corp., with the news that their popular connected “pleasure device” (aka a vibrator…now everyone settle down), We Vibe 4 Plus, is easily hackable being followed by a corresponding lawsuit. The smart vibrator released two years ago is marketed towards couples spending time apart. It’s Bluetooth- and […]
Knocking down the data silos to build better data systems
With the coming tidal wave of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT), a lot of organizations will find themselves connecting pools of data that never needed to be brought together before. These data silos wind up becoming these stand-alone “containers,” hidden within one department and isolated from the rest of the organization. See also: […]
DHS looking to link to the blockchain
The Department of Homeland Security has stepped up its research and investment into blockchain technologies, as it searches for ways to make the government more secure, accountable, and autonomous. Public interest in the blockchain from the DHS started in December last year, when it called for small business proposals to research the advantages and disadvantages […]
Kicking the fun up a notch at your local smart stadium
In an era where sporting games can be beamed into one’s home via tv or internet subscription with curated footage without the need to battle car parking, queues, expensive tickets, unhealthy fast food or poor viewing seats, it’s clear that sports stadiums need to offer something radical to entice fans away from their home comforts. […]
“Banking of Things” zeroes in on data from devices, cloud computing
Financial services are aspiring to develop the “banking of things” through new streams of data created by devices and cloud computing. A recent article by American Banker explored various facets of banking that was being impacted by the emergence of new connected devices that are creating data at a furious pace. Indeed some industry experts […]