Actionable Data

In this world of information overdrive, gigabyte is poverty (megabyte is abject penury), terabyte is the middle-class and petabyte is the target of growth! The Richie-rich are already at Exabyte and wanting to get Zettabytes!

None of data and information comes free, like the imaginary free-lunch; there is no cost-less data. As it gets cheaper to obtain data, it is fast becoming a curse like plastic. In life’s quests ranging from best travel deals, affordable real-estate, medical diagnostics to petroleum discovery the entire gamut is ridden with data and information. There is a big bad world of data sellers, who will sell you expensive latest data for a fancy million dollar price. DME (Data Marketing Executive) comes in all professional forms from a Chartered Accountant, Specialist Intervention Cardiologist, Personal Equity manager, Business Process Consultant, to Specialist Petroleum GeoScientist!

I can’t resist, You can’t resist and nobody can resist the temptation of acquiring the super-duper data from the latest gizmo at an affordable $12.5MM, with a promise to solve all worldly problems interrupting a $10B business opportunity! With such possibilities powerfully presented on  PowerPoint, especially in Petroleum E&P company MM gets treated as small as a millimeter!

There is a sensitive balance between the cost, quantity and actionability of information (or data). One can acquire a lot of high-fidelity information (at some cost) but may be incapable of acting on it. Many different examples can be shown to elucidate this situation.

1.      Stuck in a Mumbai traffic jam, with not an inch to move in any direction, any amount of detailed real-time information about the free-way 2km away is interesting, reassuring and comforting – but not actionable!

2.      After getting a nemesis assessment for the advanced cancer, and demonstrated lack of response to all drugs, any further new data of the progress of cancer in the body is – just more worrisome details and not actionable!

3.      Standing on the bow of Titatic as it is about to hit the ice-berg, the detailed data of seagulls which are sleeping on the bars of the deck is irrelevant, unconnected and not actionable!

4.      Watching rapidly declining production of oil or gas wells which are following their predecessors in death, all further high-resolution real-time well sensor data is great, but not necessarily actionable!

5.      When the entire reservoir model is a gross large-scale assessment, obtaining detailed instrumental data for 1cm core sample, is wonderful science but not always actionable!

Smartness lies in knowing what data is actionable and only pay for it!

{In this schematic representation, note the information value of the new data is tapering off in different situations. The actionable information is marked by <-- double arrow line -->. All investments in data beyond that level is futile}

Science and Technology continues to strive to make data actionable beyond the “typical” limits in different areas. Different situations elicit different sensitivity to more data and actionability. The relevant processes, process-response understanding, control mechanisms, response-ability, action-costs and other socio-political aspects intervene.

Business who have acquired Petabytes or more data needs to access how much of their data is “acted upon”, providing business relevant answers or corrections. Most expensive data are largely not actionable! They are acquired and collected as a trend or a fashion to keep up with peer pressure or for other personal gains!

Let us recognize the various types of data: 

1. Actionable data
2. Interesting data
3. Fashionable data
4. GIGO (Garbage In - Garbage Out)data

Next time you see the Petabyte think what is in it!