They say that with great power comes great responsibility. As data scientists, with big data comes big obligations. But beware – we must act now. As “big data” prepares to enter the “trough of disillusionment” in the Gartner hype curve, we shoulder the burden of driving the industry forward and delivering on the promise of data, now. We will be moving from a time of great investment to great skepticism and it is our responsibility to our customers, companies and industry to prove that big data isn’t just a fad. To do this, we must help our organizations identify and focus on the metrics that truly matter, help translate business questions into data questions and data findings into business strategy, and build data products that drive value for our end users and organizations. Above all, we must continuously tout not just the innovative work that we do, but more importantly, how our work significantly impacts our company’s bottom line.
