What is Data? Data is a piece of information, collected, saved, reported, and investigated. Data recovered can be visualised by using images, graphs, or additional analysis tools. Data is a general concept of using technical sense to study the values of qualitative or quantitative variables about one or more people or objects. The introduction of technology devices improves the struggles in gathering data compared to when it was carried out manually.
Let us consider why data collation is useful in our modern-day lives:
- Health care: The collation of Data and technology has helped to control the spread of coronavirus which started in Wuhan, China. Coronavirus is a disease that started as an epidemic in China has become a global pandemic. The rate of the people who have been affected, recovered, and died in the world according to the World Health Organisation, as of 6:03 pm CEST, 30 July 2020, there have been 16,812,755 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 662,095 deaths. While in Nigeria, we can see the figure in the following capture reported by Nigeria Centre For Disease Control “NDDC”.
People can monitor their health without going to the hospital every time. Tracking the health of the elderly has become easier with remote monitoring technology.
Business: The involvement of Data has contributed to the growth of the business by knowing the needs of customers and what channels they use to find products and services. The use of social platforms such as Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Reddit gives rooms for data analytic professionals to collect data. These help business owners to determine how prospect leads reach their locations and which channels are used to make purchases.
Transport: Data is making transportation more accessible and convenient. There is efficiency, accountability, and transparency between customers and business owners. The data gathered from drivers or vehicles on how long a driver has been on the road, where he is heading and which route would be the fastest helps transport companies to take optimise the business to be more effective for customers.
Banking: The usefulness of data in modern-day lives has helped customers to use their mobile devices to check their account balances, pay bills, deposit, and transfer money without leaving their homes. Some FinTech companies such as Farmcrowdy, PayStack, Piggyvest, Cowrywise, and Opay explore the importance of Data to venture into on tap opportunities by introducing micro-investment, insurance, wealth management, co-own farms initiative and piggy bank.
These are some examples from real-life practice on how Data has helped our lives even without us noticing. Data is positively creating changes around us from health care, Banking, Transport, Security, and Business.
You can consider becoming a Data Scientist/Engineer.
See you at the top.