Challenges We Can Solve With Data

What is the one thing that can help us tackle the climate crisis, decipher the cancer mystery, reduce crime, eliminate traffic jams, improve our diet, and become happier, smarter, and better educated individuals? The answer is … you guessed it, data!

Well, just about. In reality, data is a part of the solution when we tackle problems large and small. Attempting to solve a problem without data is akin to playing golf without a club. It’s challenging, time-consuming, and the result is likely not as good as it could be.

That’s why we use sensors to monitor carbon emissions and machine learning systems to spot cancer cells. That’s why predictive models are used to forecast criminal activities. That’s why many people rely on apps to track, measure, and enhance their diet and exercise routines.

This isn’t to say that data alone can be used to solve all these issues. But without it, our approach to these challenges would likely be less effective.

There are many specific problems that data helps us solve, and new data-driven products and services are launched almost daily. Most have relatively little significance in the grand scheme of things, while others are so innovative that they upend industries and set completely new standards.

Common to all data-driven products and services that actually gain a foothold in society and the market, is that they solve problems and meet needs. Therefore, in many cases, we are also willing to give away our data and contribute to businesses’ data collection.

The most forward-thinking and valuable companies in the world today are all data-driven. This means they collect and analyse data related to their operations, and use them to streamline their operations and improve their own products and services.

This approach isn’t exclusive to any particular type of business. Whether it’s an electric company, a student startup, or a multinational tech firm, effective use of data can make any business more profitable and appealing.

You’ve just learned about some of the problems that data can help us solve. But what about the issues that data itself creates? Here are four examples:

As we’ve seen, we use data and digital technology to gain control and overview of an increasingly complex society. We sort, structure, tidy up and systemise information to see patterns and discern meaning. When we process data, we create order in the chaos of numbers and information.

But there is also a paradox here. When we use data and give it a practical utility function, we simultaneously create more complexity.

At the same time as data untangles knots and is used to find solutions, it also sets up pitfalls and digs labyrinths of information one can get lost in and be manipulated by. This has given us an entirely new range of problems we must deal with.

As we already know, data can be used to help us make better decisions, predict possible outcomes and optimise processes for a desired outcome. But this also applies to how data can manipulate us. While there are also benefits, the downsides, mainly related to privacy, are significant.

For instance, the gambling and gaming industries use data to exploit vulnerabilities and addictive tendencies to maximise user spending and platform engagement time. Manipulative design and triggers that activate reward systems in our brain are common, with our data-driven social media feeds being one such example.

Data-driven systems play important roles in managing and safeguarding socially critical institutions, which introduces a new range of security considerations. As we increasingly rely on these systems, we must protect ourselves against a new set of threats. For instance, city power grids can be shut down, or hackers can infiltrate parliamentary servers.

While we often celebrate the potential of data and digitalisation in promoting sustainability, we must also acknowledge the environmental footprint of digitalisation itself.

The production of electronics such as smartphones and computers is responsible for large emissions. Many of the components are also made with expensive, non-renewable minerals that must be mined, which is often done in developing countries, under poor working conditions.

And all the data in circulation has to be stored on physical servers. Servers that are running 24/7, and consume enormous amounts of electricity.

The total carbon footprint of our digital devices, the Internet, and supporting systems is about 1.6 billion tonnes annually, accounting for roughly 3.7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s on par with the aviation industry!