DATA is NOT the New OIL…

Memories of Words of Wisdom from a Pre-COVID World

It was a bright, sunny day, mid-October 2019, in Sydney, Australia and I had landed the night before from San Francisco. Our Open Insights team was honored to be invited to a strategic data initiative kickoff in Sydney with the Optus and Singtel Group. 

Allen Lew, then CEO of Optus, gave the opening remarks as we started the hothouse. Recently, Allen has transitioned to a new role where he is heading strategy for the Singtel Group and serving as Executive Chairman of AIS, the leading mobile operator in Thailand. Kelly Bayer Rosemarin, is now serving as CEO of Optus. As the meeting began, one of the slogans displayed on the background screen was around the theme of how “Data is the New Oil” – and how it needs to be refined and managed as a resource.

Allen started the meeting with words that struck me as surprising and showed his deep understanding of the concept of “Data as an Asset” – something I have spent much of my professional life advocating for around the world and across many industries. Allen opened the meeting by saying:

“I keep hearing rhetoric that Data is the new oil. I was pondering this common belief recently, and I am here to say that Data is NOT the new oil…”

The looks of surprise and anticipation in the audience were ubiquitous.  I was slotted as the next speaker and my task was to start the hothouse kickoff along with William Woo, the Singtel Group CIO.

 William and I exchanged a quick look of mutual surprise. You could feel the tension in the room as the audience, myself included, were bracing for what Allen was going to say next! I worried that my talk would no longer be relevant. Afterall, my theme was all around how to approach and leverage Data in the right way – especially how to leverage structured and unstructured data without creating a big mess – since many organizations do generate a mess when they try forge into the world of unstructured data and the adoption of Big Data technology. Was this insightful CEO about to torpedo our entire theme for this kickoff?

Instead, Allen proceeds to reassure everyone that he has high expectations of data and its responsible use in helping Optus deliver great products and services to its subscribers and enterprise clients. He proceeds to say:

“Data being likened to ‘the new oil’ is an analogy that does not quite work for me.

It implies Data is a commodity, it is not

It implies that Data is good for all time, so it can be hoarded – as often is done by the various silos in a business... but a lot of the value of data is time sensitive – indeed a lot of value is lost if we lose timeliness and recency”

Allen continues to explain:

“It implies a ‘use once’ analogy and then the exhaust is emitted – not quite true. Data can be used, reused, and recycled and re-refined many times. The more you use it, the more it is available. And often the more you use it, the more valuable it becomes…”

He finally adds his alternative suggestion:

“Perhaps a more apt analogy is renewable energy and sustainable energy sources?Like solar power or wind - Data is often there and it is practically infinite. Most organizations never use it even though it can power new businesses, it can be leveraged cleanly (respecting customer privacy and regulatory compliance), and it can be an amazing source of new “free” value. But you need the right technology and know how to tap into it.”

Photo: Allen Lew, Usama Fayyad, William Woo and Jean-Claude El-Sabbagh

I could not have said it better myself. It actually woke me up to my own use of the rhetoric without thinking it through. Allen was right to question the “common wisdom” and to take it to a better level of understanding. I was truly humbled. His keynote during the opening session, and my experience working with him has proven my belief that Allen is one of the most visionary leaders in the telecom world when it comes to leveraging Data for business advantage. I am privileged to have the opportunity to work with him and with the Optus team under the leadership of Kelly, who brings a similar passion on getting data right and combines it with a technical background and experience in using data at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia before Optus. 

I miss those days in Sydney and Singapore, and I can’t wait for the day international travel opens up again so I can meet the teams in person once more.