5 ms·

Data is the new oil and India is just now fully recognizing how equivalent it is to an Iraq-style reserve; in this digital economy

dragonelite 6y ago
Yet it allowed US big tech to buy a lot of stake in its biggest data platform Reliance Jio?
- freebuju 6y ago
  The big bucks allows them to stave off any competition & maintain regional dominance. I'm aware both Google & Facebook have portions invested in Jio. Maybe they need some of their expertise in extracting value out of this data.
JumpCrisscross 6y ago
> Data is the new oil This is a bad analogy. Oil is a commodity. Data are not. Oil is extractive. You can fly in tech and talent, pump oil, keep the rulers happy and not concern yourself with the local population. You can’t do that with data—its value, for advertising and influencing, is linked to the population’s productivity and power. Finally, data are ephemeral in a way oil isn’t. You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean.
- tvalentius 6y ago
  *You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean. https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/ https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick...
- segfaultbuserr 6y ago
  Agree. BTW, I think there is at least one aspect which the "oil" analogy gets it correct - the flammability of data. Stockpiling private data without safeguards and regulations is dangerous, just like stockpiling oil and gas.
  - nwsm 6y ago
    That's a very loose analogy.
- freebuju 6y ago
  Certainly did not mean to define data as a commodity. But rather a valuable resource. How valuable it is depends as you pointed out, is what type of data & who's hands is it in. India has a large growing population of youth who are projected to push it to become the 3rd largest economy within the next 3 decades. If I were a data-driven tech company I would definitely would want to stake a piece of this pie before it is too late. At a cheaper price too.
- swirepe 6y ago
  >Surveillance capitalism renders behavior so that it can be parsed as observable, measurable units. Once it’s rendered as behavior it is turned into data and that’s the data that I call 'behavioral surplus’. >These data are subjected to sophisticated analyses to manufacture 'prediction products,' and are then sold into what I call new 'markets in future behavior.' Huge revenues flow from these new markets. >The logic of this new capitalism is that we are raw material resources. We are not the 'ends' of the process but rather the 'means' of the revenue process. It is 'about' us, but not 'for' us. https://sciencenode.org/feature/shoshana-zuboff,-part-two-rendering-reality.php https://sciencenode.org/feature/shoshana-zuboff,-part-two-re... The oil analogy works for me. >You can fly in tech and talent, pump oil, keep the rulers happy and not concern yourself with the local population. Check. >(Data's) value, for advertising and influencing, is linked to the population’s productivity and power. You can still sell oil in Tonga, a country with very low GDP, but you won't make as much as if you sold out somewhere else. In fact if you're selling oil and you leave out the niche cases, you are losing money. >Finally, data are ephemeral in a way oil isn’t. You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean. Places have tried to make laws to make data ephemeral, because it is generally not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten
- howlgarnish 6y ago
  India's largest company, Reliance, got its start from oil refining. They run India's largest mobile network, Jio, and it's called that because "Data is the new oil" is Ambani's maxim and it looks like "Oil" spelled backwards.
- cambalache 6y ago
  > This is a bad analogy. What is with programmers and their utter failure to understand an analogy, is it their literal mind? Is it the lack of socialization when growing up?. "Data is the new oil" just means that it is an important economical and political asset, that's it that's the extend of the analogy.Nobody is thinking about API degrees, viscosity, sulfur content, etc. For the purpose intended the analogy works. I am pretty sure you could come up with a better analogy (Data is a car, in true Slashdot style) but watch like not even 5 min later another guy will come up to pick your analogy apart with the most literal of interpretations. In my special hell I am doomed to take literature classes with a bunch of programmers.
  - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
    > What is with programmers and their utter failure to understand an analogy, is it their literal mind? Is it the lack of socialization when growing up?. "Data is the new oil" just means that it is an important economical and political asset, that's it “Data is the new oil” is used by Reliance, an oil company. It may be you who isn’t thinking deeply enough. The analogy is bad because oil has a specific geopolitical history. That history was caused, in part, by oil’s nature as an extracted nonperishable commodity. Opining on policy with respect to consumer data, a non-extractive, perishable differentiated good, with reference to oil reserves is misguided. Oil also has a specific national history in India. One that involved the state investing in, protecting and buying through domestic middlemen. “Data is the new oil” is a different message from e.g. “data is the new gold.” It advocates porting a specific regulatory regime to India’s digital economy. One featuring politically-connected national champions.
    - musingsole 6y ago
      ...the manner in which data have been handled by those who harvest it doesn't resonate with the history of the oil industry? If anything, the analogy is even more apt as the powers behind it are just as corrupt.
    - cambalache 6y ago
      > “Data is the new oil” is used by Reliance, an oil company. So what?, it is used by thousand of companies. Hell, the guy who supposedly come up with it worked for Tesco, so he should have used meat or milk. > It may be you who isn’t thinking deeply enough. That's the point, you get the general sense of the idea, maybe chuckle at the marketking-hype speak and move on, you dont try to over-analyze if iron, land or tulips were a marginally better option. The rest of your comment will be sent to pseud's corner
- yumraj 6y ago
  Data is the new oil refers to that data, like oil, is abundant and by itself has limited value, but when data is analyzed, as in oil is refined, it unlocks tremendous value.
troysk 6y ago
And how's is the high on oil going? No consequences right?

dragonelite 6y ago

Yet it allowed US big tech to buy a lot of stake in its biggest data platform Reliance Jio?

freebuju 6y ago
The big bucks allows them to stave off any competition & maintain regional dominance. I'm aware both Google & Facebook have portions invested in Jio. Maybe they need some of their expertise in extracting value out of this data.

JumpCrisscross 6y ago

> Data is the new oil This is a bad analogy. Oil is a commodity. Data are not. Oil is extractive. You can fly in tech and talent, pump oil, keep the rulers happy and not concern yourself with the local population. You can’t do that with data—its value, for advertising and influencing, is linked to the population’s productivity and power. Finally, data are ephemeral in a way oil isn’t. You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean.

tvalentius 6y ago
*You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean. https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/ https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick...
segfaultbuserr 6y ago
Agree. BTW, I think there is at least one aspect which the "oil" analogy gets it correct - the flammability of data. Stockpiling private data without safeguards and regulations is dangerous, just like stockpiling oil and gas.
- nwsm 6y ago
  That's a very loose analogy.
freebuju 6y ago
Certainly did not mean to define data as a commodity. But rather a valuable resource. How valuable it is depends as you pointed out, is what type of data & who's hands is it in. India has a large growing population of youth who are projected to push it to become the 3rd largest economy within the next 3 decades. If I were a data-driven tech company I would definitely would want to stake a piece of this pie before it is too late. At a cheaper price too.
swirepe 6y ago
>Surveillance capitalism renders behavior so that it can be parsed as observable, measurable units. Once it’s rendered as behavior it is turned into data and that’s the data that I call 'behavioral surplus’. >These data are subjected to sophisticated analyses to manufacture 'prediction products,' and are then sold into what I call new 'markets in future behavior.' Huge revenues flow from these new markets. >The logic of this new capitalism is that we are raw material resources. We are not the 'ends' of the process but rather the 'means' of the revenue process. It is 'about' us, but not 'for' us. https://sciencenode.org/feature/shoshana-zuboff,-part-two-rendering-reality.php https://sciencenode.org/feature/shoshana-zuboff,-part-two-re... The oil analogy works for me. >You can fly in tech and talent, pump oil, keep the rulers happy and not concern yourself with the local population. Check. >(Data's) value, for advertising and influencing, is linked to the population’s productivity and power. You can still sell oil in Tonga, a country with very low GDP, but you won't make as much as if you sold out somewhere else. In fact if you're selling oil and you leave out the niche cases, you are losing money. >Finally, data are ephemeral in a way oil isn’t. You can’t barrel up bytes in the middle of the ocean. Places have tried to make laws to make data ephemeral, because it is generally not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten
howlgarnish 6y ago
India's largest company, Reliance, got its start from oil refining. They run India's largest mobile network, Jio, and it's called that because "Data is the new oil" is Ambani's maxim and it looks like "Oil" spelled backwards.
cambalache 6y ago
> This is a bad analogy. What is with programmers and their utter failure to understand an analogy, is it their literal mind? Is it the lack of socialization when growing up?. "Data is the new oil" just means that it is an important economical and political asset, that's it that's the extend of the analogy.Nobody is thinking about API degrees, viscosity, sulfur content, etc. For the purpose intended the analogy works. I am pretty sure you could come up with a better analogy (Data is a car, in true Slashdot style) but watch like not even 5 min later another guy will come up to pick your analogy apart with the most literal of interpretations. In my special hell I am doomed to take literature classes with a bunch of programmers.
- JumpCrisscross 6y ago
  > What is with programmers and their utter failure to understand an analogy, is it their literal mind? Is it the lack of socialization when growing up?. "Data is the new oil" just means that it is an important economical and political asset, that's it “Data is the new oil” is used by Reliance, an oil company. It may be you who isn’t thinking deeply enough. The analogy is bad because oil has a specific geopolitical history. That history was caused, in part, by oil’s nature as an extracted nonperishable commodity. Opining on policy with respect to consumer data, a non-extractive, perishable differentiated good, with reference to oil reserves is misguided. Oil also has a specific national history in India. One that involved the state investing in, protecting and buying through domestic middlemen. “Data is the new oil” is a different message from e.g. “data is the new gold.” It advocates porting a specific regulatory regime to India’s digital economy. One featuring politically-connected national champions.
  - musingsole 6y ago
    ...the manner in which data have been handled by those who harvest it doesn't resonate with the history of the oil industry? If anything, the analogy is even more apt as the powers behind it are just as corrupt.
  - cambalache 6y ago
    > “Data is the new oil” is used by Reliance, an oil company. So what?, it is used by thousand of companies. Hell, the guy who supposedly come up with it worked for Tesco, so he should have used meat or milk. > It may be you who isn’t thinking deeply enough. That's the point, you get the general sense of the idea, maybe chuckle at the marketking-hype speak and move on, you dont try to over-analyze if iron, land or tulips were a marginally better option. The rest of your comment will be sent to pseud's corner
yumraj 6y ago
Data is the new oil refers to that data, like oil, is abundant and by itself has limited value, but when data is analyzed, as in oil is refined, it unlocks tremendous value.

troysk 6y ago

And how's is the high on oil going? No consequences right?