A video expressing some progressive ideas about data analysis and application from IBM: viewing digital-behavior tracking as a benefit by applying what we learn from human habits and urban system to improve quality of life…

The video discusses, what they like to call, ‘a system of systems’ which refers to the concept of connecting everything around us, ‘The planet’s central nervous system.’ For example: your alarm clock will go off earlier, if the temperature drops to a particular level and it knows that you will have to scrape your windows. Your home will manage its own use of electricity because each and every appliance has intelligence built-in and can decide how to conserve energy, depending on how many other appliances are being used.

All this technology of autonomic systems, being managed by small electronic agents and programs, is unavoidable; we will all have these alerts and special censors attached to everything we touch and see. The hard part now is to get early adoption by society as a whole. Anytime you’re with a group and bring this type of technology into conversation, there will always be people who are counter-tech and claim that they don’t want anyone or anything to be ‘watching’ them. The desire for privacy is understandable. I suppose the problem that these individuals truly have is either (1) they have a lot to hide or (2) they don’t understand that there is great value in this type of data-mining and it can truly improve the quality of our lives.

The task of bringing positive-light to this technology lies in the hands of the brands who are building and using it. Those who are mining data have a responsibility to society and to the advancement of their own market to ensure that the user-experience, associated with data-mining, is a positive one. People need to feel that information is being gather for noble and ethical purposes - to enrich their lives; rather than just for another daily email. Wish us luck.