Tom Morton of Euro RSCG put together great presentation, “Poets and Quants: How Brand People Can Learn to Love Big Data.”

Check it out below.

Tom’s presentation confirms a hunch that’s been brewing in my mind the past year or so.

Engineers won’t be the only people to breakdown the magic behind the data. Other experts who are more like writers and artists will play a role. Different specialties will serve different purposes around the data.

You might be able to grab all the data in the world but it won’t amount to any value unless there are people involve to make sense of the data. This might seem like straightforward, obvious logic, but you’d be surprised by the limitations of the ego’s of smart people.

Recently at Tedx, Jer Thorp, data artist in residence at New York Times said:

[We need] an inclusion in this dialogue from artists, from
poets, from writers — from people who can bring a human element into this discussion. Because I believe that this world of data is going to be transformative to us. – By Bringing the human elements to the data, I believe we can take it to tremendous places.”

Data is creative. Storytellers needed.

Data is all the hype because the magic of the intelligence of data are insights. Behind the insights are the opportunities for innovation, which possibly translates to new revenue streams for big business. Some are calling data, “the new oil.” See a McKinsey write up on the opportunities for big business here.

Very interesting opportunities for artist of all kinds to play in a new, emerging sandbox of big data, visualization, and storytelling. Great opportunities to optimize and make our businesses, cities, lifestyle, products, communities more vibrant, efficient, and effective. Very, very exciting times. The future is here.