My alternative title for this post was “Money for Nothing,” which is along the same lines. I have been engaged in discussions regarding Big Data, which has become a bit of a buzz phrase of late in both business and government. Under the current drive to maximize the value of existing data, every data source, stream, lake, and repository (and the list goes on) has been subsumed by this concept. So, at the risk of being a killjoy, let me point out that not all large collections of data is “Big Data.” Furthermore, once a category of data gets tagged as Big Data, the further one seems to depart from the world of reality in determining how to approach and use the data. So for of you who find yourself in this situation, let’s take a collective deep breath and engage our critical thinking skills.
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Rise of the Machines — Drivers of Change in Business and Project Management
Last week I found myself in business development mode, as I often am, in explaining to a prospective client our future plans in terms of software development. The point that I was making was that it was not our goal to simply reproduce the functionality that every other software solution provider offered, but to improve how the industry does business by making the drive for change through the application of appropriate technology so compelling through efficiencies, elimination of redundancy, and improved productivity, that not making the change would be deemed foolish. In sum, we are out to take a process and improve on it through the application of disruptive technology. I highlighted my point by stating: “It is not our goal to simply reproduce functionality so we can party like it’s 1998, it’s been eight software generations since that time and technology has provided us smarter and better ways of doing things.”
(more…)Super Doodle Dandy (Software) — Decorator Crabs and Wirth’s Law
![decorator-crab[1]](https://pisanond.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/decorator-crab1.jpg)
The song (absent the “software” part) in the title is borrowed from the soundtrack of the movie, The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Made in the day before Pixar and other recent animation technologies, it remains a largely unappreciated classic; combining photography and animation in a time of more limited tools, but with Don Knotts creating another unforgettable character beyond Barney Fife. Somewhat related to what I am about to write, Mr. Limpet taught the creatures of the sea new ways of doing things, helping them overcome their mistaken assumptions about the world.
(more…)A Little Bit Moore — Moore’s Law and Public Sector Economics
Back in the saddle and have to just find the time to put some thoughts down. In dealing with high tech and data issues one of the most frequent counterfactuals that I have been running into lately is in regard to the “cost” associated with data, especially data submissions. If one approaches this issue using standard economic theory pre-high tech then the positive correlation applies.
But we live in a different world now folks.
(more…)Let’s Get Physical — Pondering the Physics of Big Data
As a primer a useful commentary on the ethical uses of Big Data was published today at Salon.com in an excerpt from Jacob Silverman’s book, Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection. Silverman takes a different approach from the one that I outline in my article, but he tackles the economics of new media that were identified years ago by Brad DeLong and A. Michael Froomkin back in the late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. This article on First Monday from 2000 regarding speculative microeconomics emerging from new media nicely summarizes their thesis. Silverman rejects reforming the system in economic terms, entering the same ethical terrain on personal data collection that was explored by Rebecca Skloot on the medical profession’s genetic collection and use of tissue during biopsies in the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
(more…)Forget Domani — The Inevitability of Software Transitioning and How to Facilitate the Transition
The old Perry Como* chestnut refers to the Italian word “tomorrow” and is the Italian way of repeating–in a more romantic manner–Keyne’s dictum that in the “long run we’ll all be dead.” Whenever I hear polemicists talk about the long run or invoke the interests of their grandchildren trumping immediate concerns and decisions I always brace myself for the Paleolithic nonsense that is to follow. While giving such opinions a gloss of plausibility, at worst, they are simply fabrications to hide self-interest, a form of tribalism, or ideology, at best, they are based on fallacious reasoning, fear, or the effects of cognitive dissonance.
(more…)Brother Can You (Para)digm? — Four of the Latest Trends in Project Management
At the beginning of the year we are greeted with the annual list of hottest “project management trends” prognostications. We are now three months into the year and I think it worthwhile to note the latest developments that have come up in project management meetings, conferences, and in the field. Some of these are in alignment with what you may have seen in some earlier articles, but these are four that I find to be most significant thus far, and there may be a couple of surprises for you here.
(more…)The Big (D) — Ways of Looking at Big Data
Recently I have been involved in several efforts regarding what is often referred to as Big Data, but of a particular kind. Oftentimes the term, which was first defined by Doug Laney now at Gartner, is seen as utilizing data in order to monetize consumer information that is being collected to allow business to focus advertising, marketing, and product development. More generally, however, big data (as defined by Laney) distinguishes itself from normal relational database management by its volume, variety, velocity, variability, and complexity. The Wikipedia definition is slightly different with the additional attribute of veracity.
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