Big Data vs. Best Data: The Future of You in a Networked World

[Commentary] With the advent of wearables, the connected home and other types of networked devices, we’ll all be asked to give the okay to allow certain actions to happen automatically as we offload some of the more mundane tasks in our lives to be automated. Many of those interactions are going to require some level of transaction, some level of initial decision or approval, for that automation to happen. We’ll need a system where we can readily ensure trust in our identity, where we know our identity is being protected, and that we are approving these myriad of transactions that are happening in the background, turning cloud data into action.

Let’s consider how we can begin to construct a digital identity that is as identifiable as a universal passport. For individuals, a big part of this will be establishing a unique digital footprint that develops and matures over time as we build a personal history of data, including permissions and approvals. For businesses, it will be imperative to empower customers along the path to a secure identity in this new world of hyperconnectivity and automation. That means companies of every size, industry and geography must start bridging the gap now between physical and digital worlds. Much of that can start with the transaction data that gets captured every day -- when you ask customers for a signature or other type of approval. It’s not necessarily the biggest data, but it is crucial data for capturing a host of “metadata” that will feed into these new unique digital portraits -- and it’s among the first steps of turning your cloud data into cloud action.

[Brad Brooks is CMO of DocuSign]