COMMENTARY


SO MUCH DATA, SO LITTLE TIME


Don’t be fooled by powerful computers and fancy algorithms. You still must know what mat ters and how to measure it correctly.


by Daniel E. Stimpson, Ph.D. H


ave you ever wondered why Nigerian scammers tell people they’re from Nigeria? Did you know this is simply their solution to a common big data problem also faced by many institutions, including the U.S. Army? But I’m getting ahead of myself.


Tese days we’re hearing so much about big data, machine learning and artificial intel- ligence that it’s becoming an article of faith that these hold the key to unlock every door. We’re told that, with enough computing power, we can overcome virtually every obstacle in our path. But what has really changed about the fundamental enterprise of institutional learning and innovation? Te fact is, not as much as you might think.


Data is just what we call the digits and symbols that represent information. It’s the understanding of the underlying information that matters. Yet today more than ever, data masquerading as useful information can flood decision-makers. If it is not skillfully filtered and processed, voluminous data can give the impression of meaning, while much of the most relevant information is misplaced and obscured. In fact, there is nothing to be gained by an information deluge. Professor Alan Washburn of the Naval Post- graduate School said it this way: “Information is only useful to a decision process if a decision-maker has the power to use it to make smarter decisions.” Tis remains true no matter how big the data gets and how flashy software becomes.


https://asc.ar my.mil


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