{"id":1421,"date":"2017-05-10T19:26:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T19:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dgen.net\/blog\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2023-03-11T17:58:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T17:58:45","slug":"data-is-not-the-new-oil-data-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dgen.net\/0\/2017\/05\/10\/data-is-not-the-new-oil-data-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Data is not the new oil. Data > Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The world\u2019s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data” says The Economist<\/a><\/p>\n

“Data is the new oil”, said Clive Humby<\/a>\u00a0and many others [*update: or “new water”, “new electricity” etc… ugh]<\/p>\n

Some people have described why<\/a>\u00a0it is and that it’ll be a new currency.<\/p>\n

2014 Wired said it was<\/a>\u00a0and that “data infrastructure should become a profit centre”<\/p>\n

In 2012 Forbes asked “Is Data The New Oil?”<\/a>, saying \u201cData is just like crude. It\u2019s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used. It has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals…”<\/p>\n

And, while it’s easy to run with these kinds of comparisons, they are shallow.<\/p>\n

\"dgen-data-not-oil\"<\/p>\n

They miss at least three critical attributes.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Data doesn’t run out \u2014 data can be for everyone<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    You can make a copy of the data for (effectively) zero cost<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    Data increases in value the more it is connected<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The economic model for a commodity that doesn’t run out is more like solar power than oil.<\/p>\n

    The value of data is not based on scarcity (even if you think it currently is, it wont be).<\/p>\n

    The economic model for a commodity that increases in volume and value the more it is connected is, well, more like the web. It might be more accurate to say that the ‘web of data’ is the new ‘web of documents’. Extrapolating… the value of data is greater than the value of oil.<\/p>\n

    Oh, and since I’m a climate geek, setting aside the carbon footprint of the internet (which is big<\/a>), data doesn’t cause catastrophic climate change in the same way that oil does. Although, we may soon need data sequestration for all our binary dust.<\/p>\n

    And, lest we forget how\u00a0organisations often relate to data, here is a potential vision for the future of data\u2014if we don’t pay more attention.<\/p>\n

    \"dgen(NB: original photo is copyright Richard Olsenius<\/a> and used with permission here)<\/p>\n

    Other links<\/strong><\/p>\n

    https:\/\/hbr.org\/2012\/11\/data-humans-and-the-new-oil<\/a>\u00a0by Jer Thorpe<\/strong><\/p>\n

    https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/bernardmarr\/2018\/03\/05\/heres-why-data-is-not-the-new-oil\/<\/p>\n

    Data is the new Water I: Water gives life (oil takes it)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n