Dark data is defined as unquantified and untapped data, and up to two-thirds of IT and business managers say half their data is dark. CIO Dive brought this interesting information to our attention in their article, “Dark data threatens to drown companies as emerging tech adoption increases.”
As the general volume of data increases, respondents expect dark data to scale somewhat proportionally. By 2025, data volumes and dark data are projected to increase nearly five times, in part cultivated by the onslaught of new and emerging technologies.
As the data volume increases, companies are unable to keep pace. That allows some of it to go dark. Four in five respondents say data volume is the primary challenge in tapping into dark data.
Similar to dark matter in physics, dark data often comprises most organizations’ universe of information assets. Thus, organizations often retain dark data for compliance purposes only. Storing and securing data typically incurs more expense and sometimes greater risk than value.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
