Data as a Natural Resource

In the recent ACM Bulletin:

Matthias Kaiserswerth is Director of IBM Research - Zurich. ....

How would you expand on your statement in a recent blog post that data is the new natural resource, and what implications does this development have for computing?

Every time we record our lap time with an app, map directions online, or post photos on social media, we are creating a blizzard of new data. This is very exciting because today we have ways to make sense of all of this data like never before. Unlike in the past, when only statisticians and information scientists with supercomputers could crunch this data, now, thanks to cloud computing and mobile apps, we put these powers into everyone's hands. For consumers, this makes us powerful and the same can be said for marketers—in fact, it can be a significant competitive advantage. Just like countries that are sitting on top of oil reserves, gathering and making sense of data can generate wealth. Some of the data may also be a commodity. Therefore, it's really about how it is used and combined with other data. For example, IBM is working with police departments in the US to use data to predict areas in a city where crimes are likely to occur. Or with Watson, we are sifting through data to help doctors diagnose patients from a mobile device anywhere. That's powerful .... "