The need to understand value and providing a sense of place is driving everything in our lives to become measurable. Even in this case (the TED video above), F1 technology translating to infant health, take away morals, will be heavily dictated by the long-term cost benefit.
There is an impending period of over-investment in data collection coming, a large part of the workforce will simply be handling and trying to make sense of data.
Inevitably data in the wrong hands, without defined best practice methods, will become less useful. It is a starting point to better understanding and sparking discussion however. Data becomes useful to prove and often to dispel bias.
The real innovation here is collaboration. Collaboration between two very different sets of expertise, outlooks and methods. Built over decades with completely different goals in mind. Optimisation merging with preservation. Connecting skills which have been harnessed independently (not swayed by market innovators) to get a fuller picture.
Thinking of my own background and approach to online, UX collaboration with data analysts to produce balance. Blending cross-service skills for comprehensive insights and greater comprehension between all involved.
Perhaps the real question is – how do we get all parties in the same discussion? (word of mouth or the chance of someone watching a video is too slow burning). Is this where Google or another can step in? Monetisation streams of PPC or affiliate commission seem simple enough. Ultimately I feel it needs to be commercially driven, perhaps with competition from a well intentioned community.
not a great example in terms of relevance and visual appeal. This could easily incorporate Google’s Knowledge Graph richness (without infringing copyright, which will be a hurdle with their current setup).
On a smaller scale perhaps it’s the dawning of collaboration consultants, part of R&D departments.