Big data creates big opportunities for Canadian businesses
Our world is now home to more mobile devices than people. Together, billions of smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors and other connected devices are generating enough data to fill around 57.5 billion iPads every day.
This massive amount of information is known as “big data,” and it has the potential to transform how Canadian companies do business. Amidst massive data sets, organizations can discover trends and patterns that can do everything from helping businesses run more efficiently to creating jobs and boosting local economies to aiding the creation of new products and services better tailored to consumers’ needs.
In Fredericton, a startup called Resson is developing technology that leverages big data to help farmers grow food more effectively. The company is currently partnering with the government of New Brunswick and frozen french-fry giant McCain Foods to optimize potato production in the province. Using cloud- based predictive analysis of images taken from drones, tractor-mounted cameras and satellite imagery, Resson helps farmers maximize production while applying minimal resources like water, fertilizer and pesticides. Producing higherquality food in greater abundance will be a huge benefit for Canadian farmers but also a potential game-changer for agribusiness in droughtprone areas like California, or in developing nations where food shortages can be an issue of life or death.
Big data can also be a boon for businesses in another key sector: tourism. In New Zealand, most regional tourism offices are working with QRIOUS, a spinoff of the national telco Spark, to analyze anonymized mobile-network data that helps them better understand tourist trends and traffic patterns. With greater understanding of their audience, tourism bureaus can market more effectively and add new attractions or revitalize existing ones in line with visitors’ preferences — boosting local tourism and, in turn, local economies.
In British Columbia, Glenn Mandziuk, president and chief executive officer of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, is banking on big data to create new opportunities for the thriving tourism economy in his region. He believes that while most businesses understand the local market quite well, big data will provide them with a whole new level of i nsights to attract more visitors to the area.
“Big data enables tourism providers to use finite resources in a more targeted way,” he says. “It allows us to better understand consumer needs and how they want to be communicated to, which, in turn, enables us to deliver the experiences our visitors are asking for. This will definitely create jobs, it will create opportunities.”
In addition to fuelling economic growth, big data is also being used to tackle major social issues by the not- forprofit sector. In Winnipeg, a non-profit community indicator system called Peg is using big-data analysis to improve the lives of the city’s residents. The organization tracks key measures that reflect the overall health of the city and identifies areas where improvements are needed most. Led by the International Institute of Sustainable Development ( IISD) and the United Way, Peg tracks a wide range of indicators around key themes like basic needs, education, health and environment.
Some of the analysis can yield shocking revelations about inequalities between neighbourhoods.
“A child born in one neighbourhood may have an average life expectancy of 18 years less than those born in other areas,” says Charles Thrift, project manager for IISD’s Knowledge for Integrated Decisions program.
By making this information open and available to students, teachers, municipal and provincial governments, and organizations like the United Way of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council, Peg is using data analytics to inspire and inform action that will create a stronger, safer and more sustainable city for Winnipeg residents.
As businesses and governments look to reap the many benefits of big data, building the trust of their customers and constituents becomes a critical first step. According to Ann Cavoukian, a threeterm Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario now serving as the executive director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University, the benefits of big data are short- lived when consumers don’t feel their privacy is being respected.
“There is massive potential for big data to advance Canadian businesses, but it cannot do so without protecting customers’ privacy in a big way, namely, without ‘ big privacy,’ ” she says.
Under Cavoukian, Ryerson University has launched a certification program that ensures businesses embed privacy-protective measures into their programs and services right from the outset. Privacy by Design, an international standard developed by Cavoukian, has now been incorporated into new legislation recently passed in the European Union, as well as policies from organizations around the world. Cavoukian believes that certification gives privacy- minded businesses a competitive advan- tage by giving their customers peace of mind.
“Consumers don’t want to wade through a lengthy privacy policy or terms- ofservice agreement to find the checkbox that says, ‘I want my privacy protected,’ ” she says. “They would much rather do business with organizations that give them privacy assurance right from the outset.”
Cavoukian believes that when businesses successfully combine innovation and privacy, it’s consumers who stand to benefit most.
“As businesses make smarter data- driven decisions, their customers will enjoy more efficient operations, more relevant products and services, and better overall experiences,” she says. “When big data is used effectively and responsibly, with privacy embedded into the process, businesses benefit, consumers benefit and society benefits — everyone wins.”