UK Companies Not Exploiting Big Data’s Full Potential

Businesses in the UK are missing out on insights provided by new sources of Big Data, says recent research.

A survey, commissioned by data platforms firm Teradata, claims that just 20% of companies participating in the country were actively investigating new sources of data such as social media, sensor data or video.

Furthermore, just 33% of UK respondents said they were “actively investigating” more than one type of new data – compared with 55% in Germany and France.

“Worryingly  this survey suggests that UK companies are falling behind their competitors in Germany and France in the use of new types of Big Data and the evolving techniques of analysis,” claimed data sciences director at Teradata Duncan Ross.

Teradata claims the study, which polled 300 C-level executives at enterprise firms in the UK, France and Germany, shows how organisations approach and handle the opportunities provided by Big Data and new analytics techniques.

The supplier believes social media, blogs, video, call centre notes, audio files and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), HTML and XML all offer new sources of information.

Despite findings suggesting the UK could do more to embrace the potential of Big Data, 38% of those polled says that reporting data analytics would drive efficiency and allow faster and better completion of tasks.

UK Perceives Itself As UK Leader

However, the research suggests the country perceives it has market leading data analysis activities – 25% described their company as advanced, while 24% described themselves as “truly innovative” or “market leading.”

According to the report, volume of data is one barrier to data innovation in the UK, as 42% of participants said this was their biggest challenge.

“Analytics and data science will be two of the most important differentiators for companies in the 21^st century, and if the UK wants to retain its competitive edge, we need to make sure we are well positioned to take advantage,” claimed Ross.

“UK enterprises would benefit from taking a broader view and considering the innovation opportunities being demonstrated by their more data-driven counterparts in France and Germany,” he added.

© 24N.biz