Table Of ContentEdward Curry · Andreas Metzger
Sonja Zillner · Jean-Christophe Pazzaglia
Ana García Robles Editors
The Elements of
Big Data Value
Foundations of the Research and
Innovation Ecosystem
The Elements of Big Data Value
(cid:129) (cid:129) (cid:129)
Edward Curry Andreas Metzger Sonja Zillner
(cid:129)
Jean-Christophe Pazzaglia Ana García Robles
Editors
The Elements of
Big Data Value
Foundations of the Research and
Innovation Ecosystem
Editors
EdwardCurry AndreasMetzger
InsightCentreforDataAnalytics Paluno
NationalUniversityofIreland UniversitätDuisburg-Essen
Galway,Ireland Essen,Germany
SonjaZillner Jean-ChristophePazzaglia
SiemensAG,Munich,Germany SAP,Mougins,France
AnaGarcíaRobles
BigDataValueAssociation
Bruxelles,Belgium
ISBN978-3-030-68175-3 ISBN978-3-030-68176-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68176-0
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Foreword
The global health crisis, growing concerns about the environment and mounting
threats in the digital environment are changing our priorities. These threats and
problems also come with opportunities and, very often, an important part of the
solutiontoglobalproblemsliesinthedigitaltransition,abettersharingofdataand
responsible,data-drivenArtificialIntelligence(AI).Digitalplatformshaveallowed
ustokeepsocietyfunctioningintimesofconfinement.Data-drivenAIhelpstotrack
infection chains, model disease-spreading patterns and assess the efficiency of
alternative disease management options by means of simulation rather than by
heavy,slowandexpensivetrialanderror.
Althoughwehavecomealongwayintermsofincreasingtheavailabilityofdata
(especially for open data), there arestill many obstacles tothesharingofpersonal,
commercial and industrial data. Common European data spaces are a way to
systematically eliminate obstacles to data sharing and enable a vibrant economy
basedondigitalisationandasafeandcontrolledflowofdifferentkindsofdata.Data
spacesplayakeyroleinmakingtheworldsafer,moreresilienttowardsthreatsand
morefriendlytotheenvironment.Forexample,adataspaceinhealthcarewillallow
aneasy,yetsafeandcompliant,sharingofclinicalandpatientdatatobettertrackand
combatdiseases,aswellastodevelopbettermedicinesandvaccinesatafasterpace.
Anenvironmentaldataspacewillallowbettermodelsofclimate,pollutionandother
environmental threats to be built. An energy data space will allow us to produce
cleanerpowerefficiently,deliveritwhenandwhereitisneeded,andreduceenergy
wastages.
The European Union is supporting the digital transition through its new 7-year
frameworkprogrammes,HorizonEuropeandDigitalEurope.Theywillhelpcreatea
greenersocietyandeconomy,moreresiliencetowardsthreats,andnewopportunities
forbuildingbusinessesandprosperity.TheHorizonEuropeprogrammewillsupport
enablingtechnologiesforsecuredataspaces,responsibleAIandthegreentransition.
The Digital Europe programme will support the actual building, operations and
deploymentofdataspaces,graduallymakinglarge-scale,safedatasharingareality.
v
vi Foreword
Makingdataworkfortheeconomyandsocietyisnotonlyabouttechnology.In
ordertoprogressivelyeliminatethelegal,institutionalandsocietalobstaclestodata
sharing,theEuropeanCommissionrecentlyproposedadatagovernanceframework
to allow the safe, fair and easy sharing of data – in compliance with all applicable
legalandethical requirements. Thedevelopment oftechnology andtheframework
conditionsneedtobetightlycoupled:oneisnoteffectivewithouttheother.Abroad
involvement and constant interaction of businesses, academia, administrations and
civilsocietyisnecessarytobuildadataeconomythatleadstoprosperity,growthand
jobs. Finally, it is of utmost importance that the whole value chain and computing
continuum (cloud-fog-edge-IoT) is addressed when designing data-sharing infra-
structures and facilities. This prerequisite is also clearly outlined in the European
Strategy for Data, which was published by the European Commission on
19February2020.
To respond tothese challenges, astructuredand broad-basedaction isrequired.
Until 2020 when it reached the end of its contractual term, the Big Data Value
Public-Private Partnership(PPP)was akeyinstrument insupporting thisresponse.
This book and the upcoming PPP Monitoring Report 2019–20 will document an
importantmilestone ontheroad tothedata economyand will set thescene for the
newPublic-PrivatePartnershiponAI,DataandRobotics,whichiscurrentlyunder
preparation.Theachievementofathrivingdataeconomy–anambitiousgoalsetin
2014whenthefirstpartnershipwassigned–isstillavalidgoal,andweareabigstep
closertoit.Inthecomingyears, amuchbroader involvementoftechnology areas,
researchdisciplinesaswellassectorsofbusinessandsocietywillbeneeded.Asthe
Big Data Value PPP hasin its past years ofactivity excelled in creating bridgesto
otherrelevanttechnologyareas–high-performancecomputing,IoT,cybersecurity,
ArtificialIntelligence–thefuturelooksparticularlypromisingforthenewendeav-
our,asmanypathshavealreadybeenopened.
DGCommunicationsNetworks, YvoVolman
ContentandTechnology,
EuropeanCommission,
Brussels,Belgium
Foreword
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s lips. Many countries and companies
havelaunchedanAIactionplanandhaveundertakenactivitiesfortheadoptionof
AI,fromresearchtodeployment.Almosteveryoneandeverysectornowrealisesthe
hugebusinesspotentialofAI–afactunderscoredbyofficialforecasts,suchasthe
IDCAIWorldwideSpendingGuide.
Aswith anytrulydisruptivetechnology, AIalsoraisesconcerns.Some ofthem
belongtotherealmofsciencefiction;wearenowherenearhavingAIalgorithmsthat
couldmimic“generalintelligence”.Butevenwiththecurrentstateoftheart,AIisa
transformationaltechnologythatisboundtohaveafewunwantedsideeffects.Some
of them are already well known, such as AI algorithms with a bias against certain
individualsduetothewaytheyhavebeentrained,whileothersareyettoemerge.In
his recent book AI Superpowers Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Google in China,
rightfully acknowledges in his conclusion: “As both the creative and disruptive
force of AI is felt across the world, we need to look to each other for support and
inspiration”.
For all these reasons we should ask ourselves how we will handle this
technology–howcanwegetthemostoutofit,howcanwemitigaterisks?Having
clearanswerstothesequestionsiscrucialbecausethehugepotentialofAIcanonly
be realised if society not only understands the potential of AI, but also trusts that
thosewhodesignandimplementAIalgorithmsarefullyawareoftherisksandknow
whattheydo.ThedifficultadoptionofbiotechnologyincountrieslikeGermanyisa
painfulreminderthatthistrustisbynomeansagivenandneedstobeearned.
ThedevelopmentofAIinEuropethusdependsonseveralcriticalsuccessfactors.
OneistheobviousneedtofocusAI-relatedeffortsondomainssuchasmanufactur-
ing, infrastructure, mobility or healthcare, where Europe is already strong and can
make a real difference –for Europe’s competitiveness, butalso inthefight against
climate change and other societal challenges. The other is to strongly focus on
responsible AI – the art of creating trustworthy AI solutions which are designed
againsttransparentobjectivesinaccordancewithEuropeanvaluesandimplemented
vii
viii Foreword
toreliably deliver onthese objectives.Thisdual focus onindustrial domainknow-
howandEuropeanvaluesiskeytomaking“AImadeinEurope”asuccessstory.
In this endeavour, speed is essential. AI can shift the balance of power from
incumbents tonewcomersalmost overnight.Intherace for industrial AI, Europe’s
strongdomainknow-how,embeddedinworld-classuniversitiesandresearchinsti-
tutes,inastrongnetworkofinnovativesmallandmedium-sizedenterprises(SMEs),
inworld-leadingsuppliersofelectricalandindustrialequipmentaswellasindustrial
software, gives Europe a considerable head start. However, this head start is only
temporary,andEuropeiswell-advisednottosquanderit.Fast-trackprogrammesto
exploitthe opportunities offered by industrial AI are needed, the sooner the better.
Europealsoneedstogetseriouswiththe“betterregulation”initiativeandtakebold
steps to create a regulatory environment for AI-driven innovations to take root.
Responsible AI is best developed and proven in practical projects, not in ethics
councils. If needed, regulatory sandboxes, which have yet to be introduced at EU
level,canbeusedtostriketherightbalancebetweeninnovativespiritandregulatory
caution.
Lastbutnotleast,collaborationinecosystemsisindispensableinmakingEurope
thepacemakerforindustrialAI.EffortsbytheEuropeanPublic-PrivatePartnership
onBigDataValuetoestablishaDataInnovationEcosysteminEuropeareexactly
the right approach. Only through the sharing and joint exploitation of data, but
without disregard for companies’obligationtoreturnaprofittotheirshareholders,
canwepoweravalue-focuseddata-driventransformationofEurope’sbusinessand
society. Most importantly, the Partnership acts as a hub for the European data
community – researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses and citizens – to collaborate
with one another across all the member states. Europe’s wellbeing depends on a
productive and effective data innovation ecosystem which positions Europe as a
frontrunnerinartificialintelligence.
Siemens, PeterKörte
Berlin,Germany
March2021
Foreword
Dataisthedefiningcharacteristicofthetwenty-firstcentury,itsimportancesuchthat
it is often referred to as the “new oil”. The ability to refine this resource, i.e. the
ability to extract value from raw data through data analytics and artificial intelli-
gence,ishavingatransformativeeffectonsociety,drivingscientificbreakthroughs
andempoweringcitizenstocreateasmarter,betterworld.
Collaborationbetweenresearchers,industryandsocietytoderivevaluefrombig
datathroughdata-driveninnovationsthatenablebetterdecision-makinghasbeenthe
driving force behind this transformation. Europe has been a leader in value-driven
transformationthroughtheBigDataValuePPPandtheBigDataValueAssociation.
ThiscommunityhasactedasthenucleusoftheEuropeandatacommunitytobring
togetherbusinesseswithleadingresearchersfromacrossEuropetoharnessthevalue
of data to benefit society, business, science and industry. As one of the largest
research centres of its kind in Europe, the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data
Analyticsisproudtobeattheheartofthiscommunity.Inturn,weasacentrehave
significantly benefited from theopenness of theEuropean ecosystem and arecom-
mitted to continue to invest in its collective endeavour to transform European
society.
Thebookyouareholdingdescribesindetailthefoundational“elements”needed
to deliver value from big data. It clearly defines the enablers needed to grow data
ecosystems,includingtechnicalresearchandinnovation,business,skills,policyand
societalelements.Thebookchartspathwaystonewvaluecreationandnewoppor-
tunities from big data. Decision-makers, policy advisors, researchers and practi-
tionersateverylevelwillbenefit.
Insight NoelO’Connor
SFIResearchCentreforDataAnalytics,
Dublin,Ireland
March2021
ix
Preface
Making use of technology to utilise and leverage resources has been a constant
feature of human history. Advances in science moved humans from invention to
reasonedinvention,whereamoresophisticatedunderstandingoftheelementsledto
anincreasedcapacitytoutilisetheiruniquecharacteristicstodrivetheindustrialand
technological revolutions of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Scientistsandinventorsweretheexplorerswhohelpedustounderstandtheworld.
Many scientists helped to develop the periodic system and the periodic table for
classifyingchemicalelementsbyatomicmass.Thefirsttablehad63elements,but
theoriginatorsanticipatedthediscoveryofmoreelementsandleftspacesinthetable
for them. Today the modern periodic table contains 118 elements and reflects the
collectivescientificendeavoursofacommunityforovertwocenturiestounderstand
thechemicalandphysicalpropertiesoftheelementsthatmakeupthephysicalworld
anditsnaturalecosystems.
Today we live in the Information Age where our society, through reasoned
invention, has created a new world beyond the physical one. This new world is a
virtualworldwhichcontainsadataecosystemwithinformationoneveryaspectof
our society and the physical world. Today’s researchers and inventors are investi-
gatingthisvirtualworldtounderstanditselementsanddataecosystemswhichdrive
thedigitalrevolutionofthetwenty-firstcentury.Thevirtualworldkeepsexpanding
aswecontinuethedigitaltransformationofindustryandsociety.Thegrowthofdata
poses a continual challenge to devise new data management and processing capa-
bilitiestokeeppacewiththeever-increasingdataresource.Theabilitytoharnessthe
valueofthisdataiscriticalforsociety,business,scienceandindustry.Thischallenge
requiresacollectiveeffortfrommultipledifferentdisciplinesandsocietyatlarge.
This book reports on such a collective effort undertaken by the European data
communitytounderstandtheelementsofdataandtodevelopanincreasedcapacity
toexploititsuniquecharacteristicstodrivedigitaltransformationsthroughaprocess
ofsense-makingandknowledgecreation.Thecommunityhadafirmconvictionto
focus on the value of data by analysing it for insights into decision-making and
actionswhichcanimproveoutcomesforindividuals,organisationsandsociety.The
community identified the need to look holistically at data-driven innovation and
xi
