Latin America. 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of the innovative national data center proposal that was made in 1965 in the United States. It described an ambitious plan in which the U.S. government was to create and store detailed citizen files to record everything from fingerprints and tax records to studies and criminal records in a single federal data center.
Notably, the document suggested that the records be stored on magnetic tapes so that they could be easy to retrieve if authorities wanted to consult or "investigate." At the time, it was an ambitious and surprising idea to create what we now know as an electronic database.
If we analyze the text today, there are many parts that we recognize immediately, even though the underlying technologies have completely changed. The basic premise of electronic storage is the same, but thanks to the emergence of digital technologies, such as flash, both governments and companies can now store vastly more data for a much lower cost than in 1965. Today, more data is being taken and analyzed than ever before through big data analytics. That way, you often get real-time information that benefits the world around you.
It is interesting to notice how the ethics of data collection changed during the last half century. The national data center proposal was finally abandoned in 1968 due to privacy concerns. It was determined that it was an invasion of privacy for the U.S. Government to have that amount of personal data about its citizens.
Today, however, we are more willing than ever to share data and adopt different platforms that facilitate it. We do it, gladly and without being asked, every day: we publish personal details on social media platforms, we give bank details to online sellers, we share training data with friends, insurers and consumer goods companies, among others.
And we do it because we see an advantage, whether it's communicating more freely, facilitating purchases, or lowering the insurance premium. Allowing others to store our data can make a huge difference in our lives and therefore when we understand it that way, we support it. In fact, a recent VansonBourne study describes how today's connected consumers, the "generation of information," prioritize faster access to services and the more personalized experiences of the companies they interact with.
There were many changes in the 50 years that have passed since the modern notion of a data center was first introduced, but also much remained the same. The original proposal inspired many discussions related to "big brother" and accelerated collective awareness of issues such as privacy and control. These concerns remain in place in 2015; however, there is no doubt that today's consumers have discovered and embraced the advantages and disadvantages of data collection, and increasingly expect the organizations they interact with to use data to better understand it and deliver more accurate and efficient user experiences.
Comment from Luis Núñez, EMC Country Manager for Colombia
