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(More customer reviews)One thing everyone agrees with is that this time it's different. The aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008 (some say 2009, 2010 and even 2011) is characterized by an aging US, zero-flat growth rates, increased competition, and increased complexity. What worked in the past is no longer sufficient for this new normal. But there is hope.
David Stephenson illuminates a path forward by "blowing up" our old ways of thinking about data, information, and knowledge and proposes that we re-think our data stores and re-deploy technology to liberate data in a way that makes it more accessible, transparent, and much, much more powerful to analyze. He shows new tools that can make our organizations able to make informed, data-driven decisions in a real-time way, instead of the long delays in getting access to the data through gatekeepers (like accounting), and getting the data long after it is useful, by structuring the data and giving it context via machine readable "tags", it can be accessed in a whole new way that allows us to tap the "wisdom of the crowd."
In addition to the structuring and democratizing of data, Stephenson talks about new data visualization tools that helps transform the data into critical knowledge that can be used to find new insights that were impossible to discern before.
Imagine if the US or State Governments could offer the public access to that level of data about the budget, costs and revenues? Or if the credit market were required to tag and make available data about those Collateralized Debt Obligations so you could "see" inside the traunches? Data Dynamite provides numerous examples of how this is being deployed now in Federal (SEC, FDIC) and state (Nevada, & Oregon), and numerous foreign governments (Netherlands, Australia). It is also being deployed in healthcare, private corporations, and regulators all across the globe. David makes the point well that we need new tools and new ways of working to deal with these "wicked" problems facing us at every level.
The technology is already here and available. XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is one of these new tools. This standard is not new software but data standards that can be easily deployed to tag data using free and inexpensive software tools. The result is data that is essentially "bar-coded" so multiple systems can access it and users can easily import and analyze with the variety of tools available (like Excel). Using XBRL, you can cross multiple systems and databases and easily access your data quickly and without programming to allow efficiencies, real-time access, and make it widely available to your stakeholders. We recently tagged our data at the Maryland Association of CPAs as a "proof of concept" and were amazed at the benefits we are starting to realize and we did it with an accounting student intern! David calls this a dynamite combination - real-time data (structured at the lowest level possible) + group insights = better, data-driven decision-making across our whole economy.
I think this is one of the most important books for our current time, relevant to our public institutions to small businesses and non-profits. Leaders, managers, CFOs, and government officials should read it and then get started dynamiting our old practices. Set the data free! Thanks David!
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Data is compiled from every aspect of our lives. Yet, for too long, policies and technical obstacles kept you and me from access to it. Now, data can be shared instantly as it is gathered, but too many still act as if the old rules of data scarcity still prevail.When datais made available to all who need it and on a real-time basis, it becomes valuable information. How valuable? Think how the U.S.'s decision to allow free access to Global Positioning System data started a global location- based services industry creating billions of dollars of wealth and transforming our lives. Data Dynamite shows how a combination of proven tools let us 'tag" data with information that is permanently attached to it, then lets the data be transmitted instantly wherever we insert those same tags.It describes new tools that let us analyze data collaboratively and visualizations that make it come alive.The book shows how the results of these steps can transform every aspect of our lives:
Companies can streamline their supply chains, make better internal decisions, and even involve the public in finding creative new ways to profit from their data.
Government can be leaner, regulations streamlined, yet actually do a better job protecting us. One expert says if such a system had been in effect in the mortgage industry, the global economic Great Recession could have been avoided.
You and I can reduce our environmental impacts, simplify our lives, and even take charge of our health care by sharing data that we generate ourselves using smartphones and other devices.
Data Dynamite shows how a District of Columbia agency gives us a preview of what life will be like when data is available to all who need it and organizations become data-centric. Other examples detailed in the book include a hospital that has improved patient care, especially in life-or-death emergency situations, by creating unified online patient records; and a system that allows first responders and other officials to access a wide range of real-time information in a disaster or terror attack. Another life-or-death example allows patients with a wide variety of life-threatening diseases to share information about their conditions to speed development of cures. Another example describes'Internet of Things" pill bottle cap that automatically reminds your mother to take her pills, while also automatically notifying the doctor when she actually takes them. Still another tells how a Mexican company in the behind-the-times construction industry shames high-tech companies with its real-time communications sharing and decision making.Martin Luther unleashed the printed word by translating the Bible into German so priests were no longer needed as intermediaries, and allowed wide public access by printing it instead of having it copied by monks. Data Dynamite will do the same for data, unleashing its power by giving everyone access using the Internet.Data Dynamite delivers on its promise, showing how free, real-time data really is 'dynamite," just waiting for us to show the vision and determination to make it available. When we do share it, it will blow away our old sense of limits and create a new reality of unprecedented opportunity.
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