E-Business
Five Ways to Insulate Your Organization from the Pressures of Big Data
In just a few years, big data has evolved from an emerging trend into a full-blown IT phenomenon. Organizations of all sizes are dealing with larger volumes of data, spread across a broader range of types and locations, compounded by the need to process and manage it all faster than before.
While one might argue that the hype surrounding big data is growing faster than data itself, the time has nonetheless come for organizations to develop a proactive strategy to address the challenges caused by exponential growth in data volume, velocity and variety.
Here are five steps businesses can take to get past the hype and insulate themselves from the pressures big data creates.
1 – Convert Data into Information
There’s a big difference between data and information. Data, in a vacuum, is not incredibly value. The value comes from your ability to convert data into information that can be used to drive informed business decisions.
But most organizations are so overwhelmed by their volume of data that they don’t know where to begin the process of converting it into information.
The answer, as my colleague Darin Bartik pointed out in a recent interview, is to start with a business question.
What could your business benefit from knowing that it doesn’t already know? Articulating a simple, business-driven question will help focus your efforts and make the task of converting data into information more manageable and attainable.
2 – Embrace Data Agnostically
We now operate in a world where the proliferation of multiple data types in multiple locations is the norm.
Despite this new reality, too many organizations still try to confine data into a single platform, source or location, and many still make blanket decisions about which data is or isn’t useful based on nothing more than its perceived value.
Instead, organizations should embrace data agnostically and seek solutions that connect to all data types, in all locations. Only by embracing data agnostically can you truly discover the valuable insights hidden within non-traditional data types such as social media.
3 – Put People in Control
In many organizations I’ve talked to, people really aren’t in control. Tools are. In other words, the tools an organization uses have come to define what is and isn’t possible. People make decisions based on what their tools can and cannot track.
Saying “this is what the tool tracks” has become a perfectly justifiable explanation for the outcome of a given analysis. Employees, not tools, should shape your organization.
That’s why it’s time to embrace the concept of self-service data access and visualization. This will put the power back in the hands of your people, empowering them to use their domain expertise to make key decisions.
4 – Augment, Augment, Augment
Too often, organizations become resigned to the solutions they have in place. They know their current system is flawed, but they’d rather continue with the flawed approach than have to pay for and learn an entirely new one.
And for some reason, they’ve come to believe that status quo or rip-and-replace are their only options. Fortunately, that’s not the case.
Many great solutions exist now that are complementary in nature as well as designed to help get more out of the investments you’ve already made and the systems with which you’re already comfortable.
5 – Evenly Deploy Governance
Though generally seen as a function of technology, governance should be a key consideration for both IT and line of business.
Respect for governance should be embraced across all functional areas, and by all users in a given big data initiative. In no uncertain terms, governance is everyone’s responsibility and should be evenly deployed throughout an organization.
They key to making this happen is collaboration. When IT and line-of-business collaborate, you create an organizational culture where priorities are clear, objectives are uniform and most importantly, nothing falls through the cracks.
Want to hear more about big data? Join us at Dell World and attend the session “Big Data is dead: Forget the hype and focus on the value of all data.” Or drop me a line at [email protected].
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has commenced a forensic investigation into the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lotus Bank and Hackerbella Ltd over alleged violations of data protection laws involving students’ personal information.
The investigation follows public complaints alleging that students’ personal data were used to open bank accounts without a lawful basis.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer of the NDPC, directed the investigation team to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the circumstances surrounding the collection, processing, use and disclosure of the affected students’ personal data.
The investigation will also determine the respective roles and responsibilities of UNILAG, Lotus Bank and Hackerbella in the alleged processing of the data.
According to the Commission, the investigation will assess the data protection compliance obligations of the parties under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act), as well as potential risks posed to the rights and freedoms of the affected data subjects.
The NDPC said the probe would cover several areas, including Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), the lawfulness and transparency of credit scoring or profiling activities, and the use of automated decision-making systems.
It will also examine the adequacy of privacy notices, data-sharing arrangements, lawful bases for processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation.
Other areas include data retention policies and the adequacy of technical and organisational measures put in place to safeguard the rights and personal data of affected students.
The Commission reiterated that institutions entrusted with the personal data of students, staff and other members of their communities have a heightened responsibility to ensure that such information is processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely.
The NDPC therefore warned educational institutions that are yet to comply with its existing data protection compliance directives to take immediate steps to achieve compliance.
The Commission said it would continue to exercise its regulatory mandate to protect the privacy rights of Nigerians and ensure that organisations processing personal data comply with the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
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