Rising use of Internet, gadgets signal big change for local businesses


The era of big data has arrived with the wide use of Internet-connected and wireless devices, signaling a major change in the way local companies work and manage information.

In line with the shift, LG CNS, a total information technology service firm, on Thursday held Entrue World 2012, a conference focusing on the big data era.

Themed “New frontier of the smart world: Advanced analytics,” the company invited global analyst Thomas Davenport to discuss how advanced analytics could enable continuous innovations to about 1,500 participants.

The firm also staged a keynote speech by its chief executive Kim Dae-hoon that covered the beginning of a smart era and digital convergence.

“Why are we discussing analytics now? It’s because there’s more supply and demand,” said Davenport during his keynote speech in southern Seoul. “For supply perspective, we have more and more data. From demand perspective, (the increasing data) creates demand for how to analyze all of it.”

According to Davenport, people are estimated to use five exabytes of data per year with the rising use of wireless gadgets and video games as well as social media.

“In the past, we didn’t have tools to analyze but that has all changed. We have big data tools and we have more managers with big data skills,” he said.

Davenport also said that South Korea is particularly influenced by supply and demand factors since it is a country loaded with the data of smartphone users that could be analyzed.

Recent data showed that a total of 26 million people here owned a smartphone as of March this year.

“There is a gold mine of data to analyze,” he said. “You have one of the most interesting places on earth to transform into a digital society.”

Adding that advanced analytics could be applied to find targeted information and utilized as a method of differentiation, Davenport said it could be used to learn the needs of particular customers.

“Customers don’t need a vast amount of information, they need targeted information and analytics is the only way to do that,” he said.

He also provided some examples of global firms ― such as Marriott, Royal Bank of Canada, Tesco, Google and Ebay ― which have taken advantage of the massive flow of data and analyzed it to make better business decisions.

“Marriott was the first chain to do analytical pricing of hotel rooms and they have continued their innovations,” said Davenport. “In the case of Royal Bank of Canada, they use it to understand customer value and understand which type of service they should give to their customers.”

Indicating that Tesco is the world’s first grocery chain which pioneered analytical approaches, it has moved up to a record first in market share in the U.K., from third spot.

“Data is getting big and even bigger, not referring just to the size but also the structure. Companies need to create a structured framework for data analysis,” said the professor at Babson College.

In the meantime, participants also took part in afternoon sessions on an array of topics ― proactive government services, information as a strategy, stepping beyond analysis to insight and creating business value and strengthening manufacturing competitiveness through big data.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)