With the word “data” people refer to quantifiable and factual information used as the basis for reasoning, discussing, concluding, publishing or deciding.

This definition self explains why data is getting more and more attention, and why it plays a key role in our everyday lives. Every click we make says something about us to other stakeholders.

But to deepen the understanding on the matter, the Council on Quality and Leadership identified 12 reasons why data is important.

Here the main ones will be cited: 

• It improves people’s lives since it allows a company to better suit the customers’ needs.
• It provides evidence from which to make informed decisions.
• It allows to stop the “guessing game” since it provides concrete answers to the stakeholders’ questions.
• It allows companies to strategize.
• It is an immense resource from which to draw conclusions. 

Moreover, in an article from 2019 Forbes stated some numbers in terms of data usage, saying that nowadays 59% of enterprises use data analytics. Specifically, 49% of them says that data improves their decision-making process, 16% says it helps their strategic initiatives and 10% says it benefits the relationship with the consumers. 

On 24th November PRO held an event with as panelist the CEO of Ontopic, a spin-off start-up from the Free University of Bolzano-Bozen that handles data every day for other enterprises or projects.

Specifically, such businesses were born and have developed quickly lately. This trend which brings the focus on data is the reason. The latter has gained exponential relevance. 

Data is an extremely useful tool, but at the same time, it can be efficiently exploited only when it’s properly processed.

Indeed, data needs to be collected wisely toreach certain quality standards, and then needs to be cleaned before being used. And since we are surrounded by data and information daily, we need the right people with the right tools to process all those quantitiesefficiently. 

The most important take-away from the event has been to see the application of data in real terms.

In detail, data has several different usages within a business, but they are all interconnected to each other.

In the example seen during the meeting, four areas of interest have been brought to our attention:

• CRM (Customer relationship manager)
• Sales (Revenue)
• Manufacturing (Production)
• HR (Human Relations).

Basically, by using data analytics a business can keep track of its main areas of concern and make also future predictions.

Companies (or start-ups) such as Ontopic, can choose two different styles of data-analyzing: Centric or Data-centric approach.

The difference lies in where we position data: either as a result of an investigation or the origin of the latter. 

In terms of trends, due to the new approaches to data and the continued disruptions we experience constantly, it is expected a major application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in more and more businesses. This will allow gainingtime efficiency, data processing and creating a more informative dashboard for the final consumer usage. Moreover, as identified by the statements from the Council above mentioned, data is going to drive new strategic opportunities for business. 

Ontopic itself is an example, since is now working on launching its first commercial product in the market after years spent on projects and research to better improve data handling. 

In conclusion, it has been a pleasure for PRO to collaborate with Ontopic, a start-up that is now two years old and established itself in the market. Knowing the high-rate failure of those businesses, we are proud to give exposure and sustain a project withinthe same UNIBZ family. As you might have well understood, data is part of our lives and every move.

Thus, we wanted to sensibilize you on its value, usages, and make you an aware stakeholder.