The Corvus | August 2018 extraordinary amount of information that is generated by human activity and can be made available for analysis , companies - Google and Facebook - whose business it is to mine these data have gradually evolved into some of the most powerful corporations in the world today . Leveraging the information from big data analytics , these firms are able to provide superior customer service , anticipate customer needs , leverage trends in behavior to enhance innovation and product development and generally promote customer loyalty .
Over the last couple of years , Nigeria ’ s technology industry has begun to attract global interest , almost rivaling the oil and gas industry . Facebook , YCombinator and some venture capital and early stage investors are coming into the space , trying to position themselves as the companies who are best placed to harness the rich mines of data in some of Africa ’ s most populous countries . One of this high profile financing rounds include the Chan- Zuckerberg Foundation investment in Andela , a programme which trains developers all over Africa . Some of these companies are poised to achieve success in data driven service delivery that startups can learn from in the face of data driven strategies of the 21st century unicorns .
What benefits do Big Data driven strategies offer ? – ( Network effects )
A data driven strategy has immense competitive advantages for companies today . The most profitable firms in the world today , including Apple , Google and Amazon all have one thing in common , asides from very impressive revenue , the ability to generate loads of data on customer behaviors , which are put to significant use in boosting customer experience , enhancing innovation and boosting sales . A recent McKinsey report which revealed that organizations that leverage customer behavioral insights on average outperform peers by 85 % in sales and more than 25 % in gross margin only further corroborates these facts . By capturing data , such as
1.2 million new social media users
4 million hours of video content uploaded
67 Instagram posts
5.2 billion google searches
5.75 billion facebook likes
geo-mapping activities , social media interactions , digital activities , sociopolitical interests , expenditure patterns , etc ., at every point along the customer ’ s path of interaction , firms are better able to profile , understand the needs and interests of their customers and leverage the information to enhance customer experience , promote loyalty and stickiness and maximize sales - put simply , in today ’ s world , the company with the most data capability most probably wins . The risk posed by big tech disruption of incumbent industries has created a “ new gold rush ”. Senior executives see the impact and reach of data-savvy companies such as Google and Facebook and recognize the need for affirmative action .
Data driven strategies are the key ingredient of Silicon Valley startups . The most successful firms provide platforms for collaborations which generates data that is used to further enhance day-to-day activities and engender the creation of valuable social networks , which in turn motivates the user to continue on the platform or risk losing any benefit derived from participating with the network . This is the lock-in power of social media and crowd-based platforms – the value creator for the internet . By collecting more data , firms have greater scope to improve their products and services , which attracts more users , generating more data and so the cycle goes .
656 million tweets
5.97 billion users watching youtube
4.3 million facebook messages posted
1.32 billion daily active users
22 billion text messages
Examples abound of interesting data driven business models in finance , health and fitness , hospitality and others . For instance , Upstart Network is a lending company whose specialized algorithms and nontraditional measures allow it use a range of customer-background data to offer market-leading rates . Similarly , Ginger . io – a medical provider that offers emotional and mental health support - relies on customer data such as sleep , mobility and communication patterns from smartphones and fitness wearables to provide personalized care and improve clinical assessments in health management .
Keying into the New Data Economy
The ubiquity of Smartphones and internet enabled devices has made access to data abundant as every activity creates a digital trace which can be harnessed and analyzed . As more of our devices connect to the internet , the volume of data will only continue to increase exponentially . Artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning can extract more value from the data we leave . Algorithms can predict when a customer is ready to buy a certain product or service , or when a person is at risk of a disease . Companies such as General Electric ( GE ) and Siemens are now branding themselves as data
17 Data is the New Black Gold
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