The generation and analysis of massive amounts of data have completely transformed several industries, and this trend will likely continue, revolutionizing almost every facet of the economy. Indeed, a recent analysis concluded that roughly 50% of the S&P 500 will be replaced over the next 10 years, which are “shaping up to be the most potentially turbulent in modern history” (Anthony, 2016).
This analysis also showed that over the past 6 years, at least several companies that are heavily reliant on big data analytics entered the S&P 500 (e.g. Facebook, Netflix, and Trip Advisor) (Anthony, 2016). This revolution has largely been driven by ever-increasing computing power at less cost (as per Moore’s Law), coupled with precipitous drops in data storage costs. Additionally, there has been a dramatic uptick in consumer-generated data, and the rise of the platform economy which is broadly characterized by services that act as an intermediary to bring together groups of users to facilitate economic or social exchange (Simon, 2013; Evans, 2016).