By Ayoni M. Agbabiaka
Abuja
As the digital and mobile revolution continues to accelerate new technologies, the federal government has implored all businesses, telecom operators to explore the benefits of Big Data.
According to the Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, the Big Data like other new technologies, including artificial intelligence and robotics among other benefits.
The minister who was speaking at a press briefing marking this year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD-17) with the theme: ‘Big Data for Big Impact’, stated that the celebration focuses on the power of Big Data for development and aims to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context.
He explained that every day, an unfathomable amount of data flows through the internet. “This data contains information ranging from simple everyday conversations to complex and highly sensitive personal and monetary transactions. Each piece of data leaves behind electronic trails of user activities. When properly collected, stored and processed, the data allows organisations to understand behaviours and preferences.”
He described such knowledge as valuable in customising and personalising products and services to meet consumer needs, thereby equipping companies with competitive advantage.
“Data, these days, is backbone that supports the current trend of Big Data, analytics and internet of things. Therefore, Big Data is the propeller of knowledge economy that is built on a global telecoms and ICT ecosystem. He said that, “Big Data is an extremely important technology development.”
According to him, “Big Data is an umbrella term for the large amounts of digital data continually generated from various devices being used by the global population, often including emerging technological capabilities in solving complex tasks.
He pointed out that “the technology offers telecom operators a real opportunity to gain a much more complete picture of their operations and their customers and to further their innovation efforts” adding that, “telecommunication companies can no longer afford to not make use of their Big Data.”
He noted that Big Data has the potential to place telcos in a prime position to win the battle for customers and create new revenues streams, while providing them with a wealth of information about their customers’ behaviours and movements.
“Efforts are also being made to establish data-driven decision making, service delivery and operational efficiency culture by developing national policies and data strategies to promote open data and Big Data analytics as well as an unambiguous regulatory framework for enhancing data transparency and utility.
“Government will also ensure continuous international collaboration to foster innovation using Big Data,” the minister further assured.
The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD-17) is an annual celebration aimed at raising awareness on the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can yield powerful societies and economies and also help to bridge the digital divide.
Consequently, the theme for WTISD-17 is expected to highlight the technological developments that have facilitated the emergence of Big Data, developing standards related to Big Data, identify sources and uses of Big Data and leverage insights to identify new opportunities to creatively address sustainable development challenges
Earlier in the year, the Secretary General of the ITU, Mr. Houlin Zhao, had called for a deliberate action by member nations to ignite a global dedication to leveraging on the insights provided by Big Data for new opportunities to address development challenges.
