http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com 21these end users been granted access to the data
that they generate.
Consumer-facing companies must consider
customer responses to using their data. The
senior data scientist at a leading consumer
products company explains how concerns
about customer trust have influenced their
decision against using dark data generated by
their consumer products: “First and foremost
is the consumer trust. We have to earn that. So
we can’t do anything with the data that comes
anywhere close to something that would
violate any privacy...” Companies may decide
that the potential loss of trust outweighs the
potential gains, or conversely, they may decide
that they can manage the risk, thus benefitting
from deeper customer relationships resulting
from dark data.
Laws differ country by country. Technology
advances faster than the law. Regulations are in
flux and changing rapidly. Even when laws like
the GDPR aim to provide standard rules, the
exact meaning of such regulations may rely on
court precedents and future case law as much
as the actual letter of the law. As a result, the
legality of using a certain set of dark data can
remain unclear. The director of an analytics
think tank explains how the uncertain legal
environment creates a chilling effect on the use
of dark data: “I don’t want my executive to end
up in court because they used somebody’s data
the wrong way.”
Our research suggests ways to address trust
concerns. To build trust with consumers, avoid
lengthy user agreements. Instead, use short
terms-of-service written in plain language,
explaining clearly how data will be used and
stating the ways it will never be used. In
business-to-business environments where
collaborators could potentially use partner
data against each other, enlist trade associa-
tions to aggregate and analyse data to provide
insights useful to all members. This canIT people and data scientists need to
explain to business executives what can be
done with their existing data. These conver-
sations need to focus on the business case- presenting data and technology as tools for
helping solve business problems, not as ends
in themselves. The managing director of an
IoT technology lab explains the need to frame
conversations around business issues rather
than technology:
“At the end of the day it’s always about... a handful
of things. It’s always about improving the product or
service experience for your customers. Doing your job
better. Doing it at a lower cost or being able to manage
that cost so that you have fewer surprises. Enhancing
your ability to drive revenues, primarily through existing
services, with new or existing customers.”
Straightforward discussions with techs and
data scientists will help business executives under-
stand the potential benefits they can achieve by
leveraging the assets they already have. The CEO
of a Healthcare IoT firm explains: “They [the
business executives] need to start knowing what’s
possible so they start dreaming bigger to create
better services and products.”3
Should we use the data?
Even when organisations know that infor-
mation exists and have a strategically
relevant plan for analysing the data, they still
may lack the legal right to use the data. Some
firms may have permission to use it only for
specific purposes, cutting off the opportunity
to repurpose the data to generate new insights.
Others may be precluded from using the data
at all. Such has been the case, at least until very
recently, with heavy equipment. The original
equipment manufacturers (OEM) have been
embedding connected sensors for decades.They
have full access to the data generated from the
machines they sell. But what about the users
of the equipment? Only recently have some ofSTRAIGHTFORWARD DISCUSSIONS WITH TECHS AND DATA SCIENTISTS WILL
HELP BUSINESS EXECUTIVES UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS THEY
CAN ACHIEVE BY LEVERAGING THE ASSETS THEY ALREADY HAVE.
To build trust with
consumers, avoid lengthy
user agreements. Instead,
use short terms-of-service
written in plain language,
explaining clearly how
data will be used and
stating the ways it will
never be used.