True Homogeneous Data Management

The universe is bound by laws which create harmony and enable us to innovate and create more complex and advanced structures. Those in turn, allow us to explore more, and to create new and better experiences. I believe information has a similar potential, that if harmonized and trivialized - would lead to products and services we could barely start to imagine today.

Imagine a world where access to precise and complete information is the basic premise of innovation. We no longer try to improve the data quality, but rather focus on new ways to create new products and services that allow us to protect and enhance our world, knowing that all the information we need will be available when we need it. Every piece of data that is generated is naturally appended to a global system that allows instant collaboration according to the rules governed by the same leadership that looks after our social footprint.

The challenge is no small feat. The information era in which we live today, is blinding with an assortment of sources, frameworks and consumers. Like the story of the tower of babel: we have limited our own capacity to truly harness global information - since everyone is doing things their own way. All these different semantics, regulations and technologies result in obscure harmonization.

We only need to look to recent years to see how governance and ethical issues, ranging from misuse to misdirection, lead to outcries and painful changes in global maturity in data management.

We have an incredible ability to transform information into real-time, space-independent commodity. We can create models and harness technology to store, access, analyze and present information in any imaginable way.

Yet it seems we lack focus in aligning ourselves towards a framework that would lead us to the dawn on universal laws for information handling. I believe it is possible to carve the path towards transforming information handling into a global enabler that will allow us to explore more, and to create new and better experiences.

To achieve this goal would require intentional effort from organizations and bodies that have a significant influential role in managing data globally as well as social and regional leadership buy-ins. Think of the OSI model that defines the way the Internet works. We need almost something similar to enable global information management, while not crippling freedom of expression and governance.

I see this more of a responsibility, rather than an opportunity. While there are obvious economic opportunities here too, the true value is in the enabling a new kind of environment for information currency.

We need to create a trusted and resilient entity that can prioritize and drive the realization of this vision. We would need to consider regulations, disruptors, economics, complexity and many other factors. Therefore a blue print and road map is needed. Starting from a manifesto and concluding with a realistic plan to lead this shift to fruition.

Why is Information Handled the Wrong Way

Information Technology is a field of applying the science of information handling to man-made tools to ease and enhance the life of people.

However, somehow, it seems we are missing the mark. While there are great achievements and value-add through information technology, there are concerns on its true value due to risks stemming from fundamental flaws in the practice of handling information.

It ranges from risks of inaccuracies to information abuse seen as privacy and ownership concerns to the public's eye. These are due to either ignorance or malicious intent. Whether it is over exposing protected data or creating false representation on reality. Either way, this rough use of technology is decaying, rather then enhancing, people's quality of life.

We can, and should, be appreciative and grateful for the excellent abilities and tools we have today. Some of which we take for granted. But we have lost direction as indicated by lower trust levels and stronger cries for legislation.

The fundamental problem is that the vision for these technological innovations does not focus on benefiting human life as much as they are about demonstrating stronger capabilities to eliminate effort and control of people over information. This has the additional unsettling consequence of a narrowing set of entities which are able to control and possibly manipulate information.

In order to move in the right direction, every technology built must consider, at design time, the requirements and implications to ALL stakeholders of the information being handled by the technology.

To discern the issue of poor information handing we must adopt an open and inclusive framework which, by design, shifts and retains the power of decisions to the entities who should own and impact the information based on ethical and moral principles.

This is not only the right thing to do, but also the best long term economic strategy for information technology!