Echoes of the Digital Big Bang

As you know, EMC recently sponsored a study with IDC to estimate the amount of information we as a society are generating, and make some forecasts for the future.

The response and feedback was a little surprising, at least to me.

(update: someone sent me this great clip from a CTV news story on the topic)

I think we've hit a nerve here, folks ...

The First Surprise -- It Wasn't Just An IT Thing

On the day of the announcement, it was amazing how this story got picked up. 

Not by the usual IT sources, but mainstream media.  We're talking newspapers, morning talk shows, radio -- it went far beyond the technology or business audience -- it made it to mainstream media in a way that none of us predicted.

Why is this?

I think it's because we all sort of sense we're in the middle of a digital big bang -- and the society we're in is undergoing rapid transformation as a result. 

In one sense, the IDC study put numbers to something we were all vaguely aware of, but hadn't really thought about too much -- that we're becoming an information society, and we really haven't worked out all the details of what that might mean.

Bottom line -- information issues aren't just an IT or a business thing any more -- it's becoming a personal issue to many of us, and thus -- increasingly -- a potential political issue.

The Second Surprise -- We Learned A New Word

There's this service that can track how many times people blog on a certain word.

Prior to the announcement, almost no one ever used the word "exabyte" (a billion gigabytes) on line.  After the announcement, it was almost everywhere, and it's continuing to this day.

As I reflect back, I remember the first time I explained to someone what a megabyte was. 

And the first time I explained what a gigabyte was.  Ditto for terabyte. 

I'm sure it won't be too long before we all have to explain the next word in the sequence.

The Third Surprise -- The Dismissive Commentary

I know I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. 

As I skimmed through some of the discussion, I was a little taken aback by folks who had criticisms with the methodology, thought the whole thing really didn't matter, and even a few folks who thought it was a cheap marketing stunt.

We always can argue about methodology, but even if we're off by a few exabytes or more, the trends are inescapable -- we're generating and using a whole lot more information than anyone ever expected, and that's causing a host of issues in some obvious and not-so-obvious areas.

As far as it all being a marketing stunt, I suppose I could call global warming a marketing stunt for solar panel manufacturers.   

This is a significant societal issue, folks.  Think about it.

The Fourth Surprise -- People Really Want To Talk About This

I just got back from a European trip (hence no blog entries), but had the fortune to spend a few hours in Dublin with the local press over a very nice lunch.

Now, at these sorts of things, they usually expect a hard-nosed pitch about the company, or some new product we're announcing.

We didn't do that. 

We talked about the IDC study, what it meant, and what we could expect going forward.

Lots of very intelligent, very thoughtful opinions.  Lots of fascinating debate on what the right answers might be on issues like "who owns information" and "what will work mean in a few years". 

One thing was clear to all of this -- we were in the middle of something very big, and the answers wouldn't be obvious for quite some time.

I had so much fun I almost forgot to throw in the obligatory EMC pitch -- here's what we're doing about it, and so on.  We could have gone on for a while longer.

And this experience wasn't unique -- I've had about a dozen intense discussions with people on this topic, and everyone wants to engage on this one.  Yes, it's interesting, but -- more importantly -- it will change many aspects of our lives going forward.

And What Wasn't Surprising

Well, if you're an IT guy who's trying to make it through the next crisis, and we show up and say "guess what, it's going to get much, much worse, and here's the data to prove it" -- well, it's not really a message of hope and salvation.

Sometimes as I go through this, I see people in the audience sag a bit, eyes down, appear a bit more tired than ever before.  Will it ever end?

In my opinion, it won't unless IT takes a position that how companies deal with the information challenge is a core strategic issue, and get it on the table at the right level. 

Who will be the CFO of information?

And It's Not Over ...

I expect more and more reverberations over the next few weeks and months.

Whether by intention or accident, I think we've touched a sensitive nerve here with a lot of people on a lot of different levels.

And the story has just begun.