Author Archives: Duncan

Where to Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Business and How to Start

(A version of this article without the links, recently appeared in the University of Nottingham Alumni Newsletter) Many companies are rushing to use AI technology. But first things first. Where should we start? There are tasks that AIs do much better than humans… but there are tasks where humans remain light years ahead of AIs.Continue reading “Where to Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Business and How to Start”

How do you get the data you need? Even when you don’t know what’s out there or even if it exists?

My new post on LinkedIn is about how looking for the right data is like looking for a needle in  a haystack. But we found a way to match data generators with data users – even for unpredictable data needs.

“Data Trusts” are a potential way to get data to train AIs. But how do we shepherd a whole flock of Trusts?

My new blog on LinkedIn is about the organisations which will deal with all the data that our AIs will need to work well. How do we make sure these organisations do not stray?

AIs need to be accountable when they makes choices.

One type of AI software uses neural nets to recognise patterns in data – and it’s increasingly being used by tech firms like Google and IBM. This type of AI is good at spotting patterns but there is no way to explain why it does so. Which is a bit of a problem when the decisions need to be fully accountable and explainable.

How the car industry is building Internet of Things ecosystems.

My new article on Linkedin Pulse looks at the implications of how the sensors on modern cars can tell manufactures where you drive, how you drive and when it might be about to breakdown. This data could be a massive help to car repair garages, insurers and other firms. But manufactures might want to charge for it andContinue reading “How the car industry is building Internet of Things ecosystems.”

Smart contracts using blockchains could help IoT devices to share data appropriately and securely.

The success of the Internet of Things (IoT) depends on sharing data between different devices but it needs to be done appropriately. But there are some brand new technologies that might support appropriate data sharing and they can do it on a massive scale.  Sharing (data) is good for us. The more we share thenContinue reading “Smart contracts using blockchains could help IoT devices to share data appropriately and securely.”

Each IoT device has it’s own ‘umwelt’ – a self-world – and combining umwelts is the key to successful IoT services.

The self-world of an IoT device is made up of all that it senses and all that it can do. All its sensor data and all its capabilities to change the physical world. Each device has different sensors and effectors, so many diverse devices working together can help each other. Jakob von Uexküll’s idea ofContinue reading “Each IoT device has it’s own ‘umwelt’ – a self-world – and combining umwelts is the key to successful IoT services.”

IoT paranoia: can your devices trust the other IoT devices that help them?

For the Internet of Things (IoT) to function well then lots of IoT devices need to work together properly. But how can these other devices be trusted? Blockchain technologies might be the answer. The idea of any device with a chip and a web connection working with any other device has lots of potential. At home yourContinue reading “IoT paranoia: can your devices trust the other IoT devices that help them?”

What is an IoT ecosystem and how does it work?

Internet of Things devices work better together, the more IoT devices that link up the better. So which devices and which apps should yours connect to? In the Internet of Things (IoT), the more devices that connect with each other then the more perspectives and capabilities there are to be shared. More data from differentContinue reading “What is an IoT ecosystem and how does it work?”

What is the Internet of Things?

IoT devices can be anything with computing power and an Internet connection. Phones, tablets, PCs and games consoles can all be the ‘things’ in the Internet of Things. Even refrigerators, cars, washing machines and stand-alone sensors like web cams – if they have a web connection. And all the apps on your phone certainly have computingContinue reading “What is the Internet of Things?”

My new Econsultancy post – How purchase intent data can help you understand the customer journey.

I’ve a new post on Econsultancy, the digital marketing blog. It’s from some research I’ve just done with Maybe*: How do millennial shoppers decide what to buy? We’ve shone a light into the dark recesses of the customer journey. The earlier on along the shopper journey you go then the less you know. But earlier onContinue reading “My new Econsultancy post – How purchase intent data can help you understand the customer journey.”

My new guest blog for Control Shift

Control Shift, the personal data experts, asked me to do a blog on TACKLING THE DATA SHARING CHALLENGE. There are many benefits to sharing more data between firms and other organisations but right now, as a society, we do not know how to do it safely.  In the blog I look at some of the opportunities andContinue reading “My new guest blog for Control Shift”

Privacy: Is there a missing third party in our emerging Big Data society? (new white paper)

Personal data can be used for great harm as well as for great good. The more that data is shared between organisations then the more value it can create. But personal privacy is becoming more and more of an issue, although the way firms handle, share and reuse data is much too complicated for most individualsContinue reading “Privacy: Is there a missing third party in our emerging Big Data society? (new white paper)”

My new Econsultancy post – Why it’s always good to share in our Big Data society

I did a new post on Econsultancy, the digital marketing blog. It’s about the opportunities and dangers of sharing customer data. Sharing lets us use our resources much more precisely and produce completely new services. But misusing customer data risks destroying customer trust. Still, we all need that missing piece of the Big Data puzzle, soContinue reading “My new Econsultancy post – Why it’s always good to share in our Big Data society”

Big Data Analytics is changing the decision-making structure of organisations

[Source Wikimedia Commons] Big Data is changing how organisations make decisions, who makes the decisions and even the types of decisions to be made. If we think of organisations in terms of decision-making structures and processes of decision-making then what will these look like in an organisation that fully uses Big Data analytics? Some peopleContinue reading “Big Data Analytics is changing the decision-making structure of organisations”

My new post on Econsultancy – Google Now: it’s about the data not the service

I recently did a post about Google Now on Econsultancy, the digital marketing blog. It’s about how Google Now is a great new service with its near psychic ability to make inferred suggestions. But the real story is in how it gives Google a much much wider window onto users’ data than Search ever did.Continue reading “My new post on Econsultancy – Google Now: it’s about the data not the service”

Big Data Session @ Marketing Week Live

I’ll be speaking about what Big Data can do for marketers at Marketing Week Live on Wednesday. We’re starting Big Data discovery projects with several firms right now to see how they can really sweat their data assets – so come along for some new ideas and a chat. I’ll be in DD4 from 12.45Continue reading “Big Data Session @ Marketing Week Live”

New big data Business Analytics Strategy group at Nottingham University Business School.

Big data research partners wanted. We are developing completely new ways to look for patterns in data. Our data scientists uncover patterns. Then we show you which of these patterns are most useful and how to use them to better meet your organisational objectives – and to get better objectives. From data provenance to analytical discovery, data-ledContinue reading “New big data Business Analytics Strategy group at Nottingham University Business School.”

Why Big Data needs board level sponsorship

Econsultancy just published a really useful free report: Big Data Trends Briefing: Key takeaways from Digital Cream London 2013.They were kind enough to include a few quotes from me but the reason I like it even more than that is the huge number of examples, case studies and other resources that it highlights. It’s aContinue reading “Why Big Data needs board level sponsorship”

Common threads running through three recent Big Data roundtables

Source: Wikimedia commons In the last few weeks I’ve been to three roundtables that were full of experts on Big Data and Big Data analytics or business users of the insights from such analytics. There were also a few Members of Parliament and senior industry regulators. The first roundtable was at Econsultancy, the second was atContinue reading “Common threads running through three recent Big Data roundtables”

Mobile Big Data: how to link very large scale analytics with very small scale personal needs.

[Source: Wikimedia Commons] Retail is being drastically changed by new digital technologies like Big Data analytics and the services that mobile smart phones can deliver. Big Data has been discussed a lot but there is little analysis on what it can specifically do for firms and their customers. Also, apps that run on Mobile devices,Continue reading “Mobile Big Data: how to link very large scale analytics with very small scale personal needs.”

Want to measure your data’s value?: Open source it.

As firms scale up the use of information in business using Big Data analytics there is an increasing interest in measuring the value of the data. Not just the ROI of the projects that use it, but the asset value of the data itself. Pete Swabey recently wrote an article in Information Age about the connectionContinue reading “Want to measure your data’s value?: Open source it.”

Not using your Big Data enough? Meet the Steptoe & Son of Big Data

Are you feeling guilty about not using your Big Data enough? You know that you have loads of it and that you should be making the best use of it. But maybe you don’t know how to monetise it by turning it into new services? Or maybe you suspect that there are additional ways toContinue reading “Not using your Big Data enough? Meet the Steptoe & Son of Big Data”

The flipside of the personal data coin: useful suggestions on one side and ownership, control and responsibility on the other

Think about how Tesco Clubcard and many other firms are finding out more and more of our needs, interests and other personal data – in fact every time we use a phone or a web browser to make a transaction or to communicate with friends we generate data that firms collect and can then analyse. These areContinue reading “The flipside of the personal data coin: useful suggestions on one side and ownership, control and responsibility on the other”

Socialising your data: Social data needs intermediaries

Any single retailer gets a very limited view of its customers’ lives – just the part of their lives that it helps them with. But deep insights need to be based on very broad views of customers’ personal contexts, which are understood by looking at lots of different aspects of their lives. The social dataContinue reading “Socialising your data: Social data needs intermediaries”

What retailers want – and how to get it (3/3)

New Analytic Strategies: lots of new toys plus Big Data – what to do now? The key objectives of Retail remain the same. Measures like recency, frequency and value are what defines the profitability of the different retail ‘entities’ such as SKUs, lines, ranges, single stores, regions, chains, brands, campaigns, seasons, segments, channel and evenContinue reading “What retailers want – and how to get it (3/3)”

What retailers want – and how to get it (2/3)

Indispensable Customer Experience How many loyalty cards do you have in your pocket? How many loyalty schemes are you a member of? … That’s not very loyal is it? Most loyalty programmes are just bribery in return for customer data. But if each customer’s experience of a brand, through several cycles of awareness to consumption,Continue reading “What retailers want – and how to get it (2/3)”

What retailers want – and how to get it (1/3).

Retail is being disrupted by lots of new technologies right now. The social media that networks shoppers together in lots of different ways. The mobile devices that people use anywhere and everywhere as well as the apps that run on these devices. And the Big Data that shoppers and supply chains continuously generate. But the technologyContinue reading “What retailers want – and how to get it (1/3).”

They are looking at you: Google’s telescope versus Facebook’s telescope.

I love the way that Google+ is an even bigger reason to login and give Google a token to link together all my other interactions with Google products. Each of which tells Google a little bit about what I’m interested in. Google products are not there to get customers to use the web, they’re thereContinue reading “They are looking at you: Google’s telescope versus Facebook’s telescope.”

Big data + smart phone app = global as well as local, centralised as well as decentralised.

The huge data center which runs in the cloud can now connect to you via an app on your smart phone. This set up combines scale and power with precision and personalisation. Firms are starting to make apps that are really useful helpers for shoppers. Like this one for shoppers at the DIY chain Lowe’sContinue reading “Big data + smart phone app = global as well as local, centralised as well as decentralised.”

Big Data – the need for integration.

Sandy Pentland of MIT points out some of the key issues about Reinventing Society in the Wake of Big Data here. Data ownership is important because it concerns the main driver, as well as one of the main barriers, to developing Big Data services. The main driver for developing Big Data services is value creationContinue reading “Big Data – the need for integration.”

Rick Smolan – The Human Face of Big Data

Here’s a video that publicises Rick’s latest project on exploring and explaining the potential of Big Data. Big Data is like the web before we called it Web 2.0 – we’ve got some of the basic technologies but we’re still figuring out what we can do with them. Rick makes a great point: “Just imagine if yourContinue reading “Rick Smolan – The Human Face of Big Data”

PIGs (Process Interest Graphs)

Social Graphs connect people that know each other, like social networks. Interest Graphs connect people with what they are interested in. John Battelle’s been writing about them for years. If you can find out what people – retail customers, business customers or colleagues – are interested in then that is the first step to actually givingContinue reading “PIGs (Process Interest Graphs)”

Loyalty cards are changing into loyalty apps.

Loyalty cards are great at linking together the different visits that a shopper makes to a store so that the retailer can build up a better picture of what the shopper is interested in buying. But its like studying the shopper’s life through a key hole – its only about what they do in theContinue reading “Loyalty cards are changing into loyalty apps.”

The secret is knowing what they want.

“Any colour you like as long as it’s any colour you like” Martin Hayward, dunnhumby white paper, 2009. If you know what customers want then you can it sell to them or give them great service. Of course there’s the small matter of producing and supplying. But however sophisticated your capabilities are you first needContinue reading “The secret is knowing what they want.”