On your marks for data revolution in our region
DATA. It’s everywhere. As we pass through the ticket barriers at New Street station, as we tap our card to pay for a coffee, as we use our location-enabled apps to find our destination and share photos of our local landmarks on social media, we are creating and sharing data.
As we check on our smartwatch to see how many steps we’ve taken and listen to this week’s “Made for You” playlist, we are engaging with data. And it’s not yet 8am.
For businesses, understanding this data can help them create better products and services or provide their employees with the information they need to do their jobs more effectively.
For individuals, it can help us make sense of our busy lives, manage our finances and get more out of our free time.
What’s more, the volume of data is growing all the time, with more connected devices and more sources of data coming online all the time.
Nowhere is this more relevant than right here in the West Midlands.
The test of new higher-speed, higher-bandwidth 5G mobile connectivity in the West Midlands brings with it opportunities within the region that are right within the sweet spot of the UK’s booming digital economy.
5G offers connections with 100 times the speed of 4G and a thousand times the data capacity.
As data continues to grow exponentially, so do the opportunities to use it and learn from it.
Historically, data use by businesses has been quite backward-looking, trying to understand what happened in the past, limited both by data availability, technology cost and the capability to make sense of it all.
These constraints are falling away as the cost of data storage and processing falls and businesses invest in growing numbers of data-savvy recruits.
Many prominent local industries, in sectors such as automotive, utilities, construction and retail, are leading the way in how data can be used to plan and, more importantly, influence what happens in the future.
Sport is another industry that is seizing upon the power of data to deliver a competitive edge and inspire performance.
The past month has seen the staging of two major athletics meetings in Birmingham at Alexander Stadium, the home of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and at PwC we are proud to be the official data intelligence partner for British Athletics, working with the “World Class Programme” at the National Performance Institute in Loughborough.
The athletics world is one where the smallest detail can make the biggest difference.
Three British champions won their titles by less than two thousandths of a second last weekend, booking their places at the World Championships this month in the process.
Our data experts are working with coaches and athletes to provide powerful insights into the factors that influence training and performance, with the shared ambition to win more medals in more events at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
There is no substitute for hard work and world-class coaches but data analysis can help those coaches spot minute trends or issues that would evade the naked eye and help support staff and sports scientists to recommend impactful interventions or changes to athlete preparation.
Both aspects can yield a big difference to performance on the track or field.
Away from sport, a broad spectrum of industries are also pushing the boundaries of what data can tell them and do for them, seeking their own competitive edge through data insights and analytics.
Jaguar Land Rover is developing vehicles with autonomous or “self-driving” capabilities that can collect and analyse data from sensors all around a vehicle and its surroundings to make split second decisions.
Rolls-Royce is also using data analytics to predict when aeroplane engines need servicing by analysing in-flight data.
Birmingham boasts some of the largest residential, commercial and infrastructure investments in Europe and this is another area where data is becoming increasingly influential, from developers using drones to inspect construction sites to the installation of smart building functionality that can control climate and security and create safer, more comfortable surroundings for us all.
Data collection and analysis is literally being designed and built into the world around us – into the offices, shops and buildings we work in, including the new Alexander Stadium.
In turn, this will give rise to even more data and even more opportunities to improve the world around us, as families, individuals, businesses and employees. Especially for those athletes who achieve the seemingly impossible and share those moments of national pride and celebration.
Data collection and analysis is literally being designed and built into the world around us