The world contains an unimaginably vast amount of digital information, and this information is increasing at a rapid rate.
So says Gerald Naidoo, CEO of Logikal Consulting, who notes that Facebook alone is home to 40 billion photos; 864 000 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every day; and in one day, enough information is consumed by Internet traffic to fill 168 million DVDs.
According to Naidoo, the sheer amount of information available makes it possible to do many things that could not be done previously.
Spotting business trends, preventing diseases and combatting crime are now all possible as a result of the amount of information available in the digital space, he adds.
Managed well, Naidoo explains, this data can be used to unlock new sources of economic value, provide fresh insights into science and hold governments to account.
However, he is of the view that the dramatic increase in the supply of information is creating a host of difficulties for companies looking to leverage this data.
Despite the abundance of tools to capture, process and share all this information, Naidoo believes the information within the data is difficult for many organisations to access.
"How do organisations make sense of all this data?" he asks.
"Today's algorithms and powerful computers can reveal new insights that would previously have remained hidden, but one in three managers frequently make critical decisions without the information they need, one in two don't have access to the information across their company needed to do their jobs, and three in four business leaders say more predictive information would drive better decisions."
Thus, he believes business analytics is the key. "By bringing optimised performance, informed decisions, actionable insights and information, business analytics can help your company outperform and out-manoeuvre the competition and answer fundamental questions such as, 'how are we doing? Why? and What should we be doing?'"
This applies equally to the public and the private sectors, Naidoo adds, as the information explosion offers unprecedented access to insights.
"For example, digital records should make life easier for doctors; bring down costs for providers and patients; and improve the quality of care."
"But in aggregate, the data can also be mined to spot unwanted drug interactions; identify the most effective treatments; and predict the onset of disease before symptoms emerge."
Data is becoming the new raw material of business. It is an economic input almost on a par with capital and labour, he explains.
"Sophisticated quantitative analysis is being applied to many aspects of life, not just missile trajectories or financial hedging strategies, as in the past."
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