“Data is a precious thing”

Europe needs to get new data protection rules agreed and in place as soon as possible, creating a single market for data to boost competitiveness on the global scene. “We can’t lose time; we are talking about our prosperity,” said Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, opening the Science|Business Smarter Data for Europe conference.

There are now six megabytes of data for every person on the planet. “It’s just incredible; outside of the imagination,” Kroes said. But advances in machine learning, data mining, visualisation and other analytics are making it possible to tame, manipulate and interrogate this torrent. “The amazing thing is not just the amount but what you can do with it,” she said.

This data has inherent value because while knowledge is the engine of the economy, Big Data is its fuel. For traditional industries and the services sector Big Data analytics bring new opportunities. For the public sector it offers a route to service improvement and transparency. In science, opening up data to share, compare and discover, is spurring the development of whole new fields of research. Meanwhile for citizens, the information made available through the Big Data movement offers empowerment.

“We are at the start of a paradigm shift,” Kroes told delegates at the conference held at the British Ambassador’s residence in Brussels last week (23 May). Storing, processing and analysing Big Data will change the way businesses are run and the way decisions are made. Siemens for example, is installing wireless sensors in equipment to monitor performance and detect problems before they cause damage or downtime. Such continuous remote monitoring shows benefits over periodic manual observations, but is still not the norm in industrial production, Kroes noted.

Removing obstacles to Big Data

While it may not be a huge leap in technological terms to go from remote monitoring of the performance of machines to the remote monitoring of the health of humans, there is a vast chasm in terms of data privacy. This highlights the need for sensitively calibrated data protection rules to protect rights and privacy, and at the same time allow the potential of the information explosion to be fully exploited.

Kroes outlined the steps the Commission is taking to remove obstacles to the use of Big Data, through legislation, standards setting and in its R&D programmes. New data protection rules were set out by the Commission in January 2012 and are under discussion in the European Parliament currently. The sensitivity of this issue is perhaps reflected in the fact that 3,999 amendments have been made by MEPs, the highest number of amendments ever tabled to a single legislative file in Parliament.

“Legislation is not the first term I would like to use, but sometimes we need it to maximise value,” Kroes said. The existing EU Data Protection law is long overdue an update, since it dates back to 1995 before the Internet took off. And – inevitably – this law is enforced differently from one member state to another, creating expensive bureaucratic obstacles for companies moving information around across borders. Getting rid of this fragmentation with a new single EU data protection law will save €2.3 billion per annum, according to Commission estimates.

Meanwhile, revised rules on public sector data, due to be approved in June, will make it easier to use and reuse information generated and collected by public sector bodies.

Alongside harmonised rules for how data is handled, the Commission is pushing for standards to allow the interoperability and integration of data.

See the results you paid for

These standards will be enshrined in research funded by the European Union, whilst at the same time the Commission will continue to promote open data, to make sure that the outputs of all research funded by the EU are freely available. Kroes said that in Framework Programme 7 an average of €76 million per annum has been devoted open data, and the upcoming Horizon 2020 R&D programme will continue this push, thus enabling citizens, “to see the results you paid for through tax money.” Amongst other measures, there will be support for the work of the Research Data Alliance, a body which aims to make it easier for scientists to share data.

Of course, Europe is not alone in sensing the economic potential of Big Data. “There’s a great competitive market out there,” Kroes said. “I’m positive about the competition, it helps our digital economy and gives us a much needed boost at a time of crisis.” But it also underlines the importance of getting well-balanced regulation and robust standards in place. “We need to get it right: we are in a hurry,” Kroes concluded.