MANAGEMENT
The power of
data Ben Gibson writes about the
importance of data collection and how to effectively analyse it in order to assist with management planning and decision making.
D
ata has become a hotly debated topic over the last two decades. After the Internet exploded onto the scene, the world saw a meteoric rise in the number of Internet-connected devices. At the end of 2020, there were an estimated 22 billion connected devices on the ‘Internet of Things (IoT)’, and this is forecast to rise to a mindboggling 125 billion by the end of 2030! Whether through our phones or home and work computers, we have instant access to an unprecedented volume of data and information that guides our decisions, actions and planning. All these devices are collecting data, running algorithms and making predictions about user behaviour and consumption patterns. Have you ever been reading a news website and all of a sudden started seeing banner advertisements specifically for, say, Stihl tools, and subconsciously your brain thinks, “Wow, I love Stihl tools, and what a coincidence, I only just bought one!”? The advert is cleverly offering you the carry bag/ extra battery/upgrade to complement your purchase from two weeks ago. Unbeknownst to you, all driven by 30 minutes of research you did three weeks ago in the same Internet browser! 62
A number of apps and platforms have been identified as capturing data while your phone is active but also, and this is scary, inactive (asleep). When you download an app and provide permission, the ability to access, share and sell your data varies between platforms and its always buried within a mountain of fine print! Forbes recently reported that a team of computer scientists at Northeastern University in the US, conducted research with 17,000 of the most popular apps on Android and iOS and many were found to be “recording the phone’s screen and sending that information out to third parties.” Without diverting too much, I read an alarming statement about the power of data many years ago – “If you are not paying for the product, you are the product.” Its origins stem back as early as the 1970s when freeto-air television was identified as the strongest form of marketing at the time for many sectors. Marketers had access to billions of consumers gorging themselves on the programs. More recently though, the concept has been applied to the so-called “free” use of social media platforms and the associated data collection and targeted advertising toward market niches. This was recently highlighted in the popular Netflix documentary ‘The Social
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 24.3
Effective use of data is a very powerful way of planning and presenting information to support a project or initiative you may be proposing. Investing the time in collating and organising data can have a significant impact on your operations
Dilemma’, which provides an eye-opening look at the power and impact of social media and data on humanity. Countless organisations have been fined, charged and even shut down over their mishandling or appropriation of consumer data. Our data is so valuable to consumer organisations that they will pay billions of dollars for it and at times willingly break the law to access it. Data analyst and researcher Clive Humby famously stated as early as 2006 that: “Data is the new oil – it’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used. It has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc… to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity. Data must be broken down, analysed for it to have value.” Okay. So we are understanding the power of data. From a turf management perspective, you undoubtedly already understand the value and benefits of ‘knowing the numbers’ and using data to forecast future practices and planning. The more accurately we can forecast