Data here, data there…

There’s an old saying that goes something like, “the world is so large, you’ll never see it all”… or something like that.

In theory, yes. You will probably never see the whole world. If you do, let me know how it is over there. I’ve always wanted to go…

But anyway, we as humans might not ever see the other side of the world, but data points do- and these data points see the whole world, so many times a day. Especially now, in this rapidly-growing, data-centric crazed world. The single most important part of businesses now a days revolves around their metrics, data points, and KPIs. And it got me wondering about innovation and data.

Some media technologies have grown more innovative to fit the needs of consumers, based on convergence. If you rewind to a few weeks ago when we discussed convergence, you might remember that media convergence is the ways in which media has been combined and connected to fit societal needs. As society has grown to adopt these new combinations, their lives have changed through enhancement. Once you add in the next layer of data, and see how data can help dictate more of these media habits, you run into my theory about data-innovation. A theory I recently decided is going to be the future.

Think about it. The whole world suddenly became obsessed with fitness- wellness and Kale smoothies sure, but how about fitness trackers to add into this? It started with wearables, and has led to apps on your phones that you can take from place to place making working out basically portable, and now we can add in the rise of bluetooth wireless headphones, letting you listen and move simultaneously. That right there is a huge area of innovation that is a result of the domino effect. From a business perspective, this adoption of “portable” gave fitness instructors an outlet to incorporate into their business models. And it gave tech companies a new way in to the consumers’ lives.

Backtracking here… right back to your wrist, staring at your wearable technologically advanced watch. The new craze of wearable tech was focused around people wanting to learn more about their health and wellness, and lead to tracking workout capabilities. But, what did this innovation start from? It started as a way to track the data on your own body from your own workouts. But is now easily recorded, remembered, and even shared on your devices, from friends to groups to trainers, all over the world.

So, what is my point? My point is essentially, because of the want to know about your own personal data, there has been innovation. Because of the craze and obsession over data, companies created apps, technology, and devices to track your own data. And because of the ease at which this data is accessed, entrepreneurs created new lines of business to incorporate into your data-driven mind.

The rise of the collection of data is leading to innovation. When more people care about data, there will be more ways to track it, only making the metrics more imperative in business decisions. Fitness is just one example of a realm that will forever be changed by data. With more ways to track data, there will be more innovation around it, using these tracking devices as benchmarks to further push the envelope for success.

And since fitness is just one area where this has become so imperative, I can’t begin to discuss how important data will be in the display and digital activation world. To be continued, when data takes over and suddenly even the rate at which I’m typing this is trackable…