5 Predictions for Online Data in 2011

Josh Jones-Dilworth is the founder and CEO of Jones-Dilworth, Inc. a PR consultancy focused on bringing early stage technologies to market. He blogs at joshdilworth.com.

1. "Data scientist" Is the New Community Manager

In 2011, data science job openings will see a rise in numbers similar to the gaggle of community management and social media marketing gigs that materialized out of the ether nearly three years ago. Data scientists are officially the hot new hire of choice even though their particular mix of formal skills is still rare.

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But because demand for data knowledge and practicum will outpace supply for the foreseeable future, data science tutorials will be popular events, and lightweight data science skills will trickle down and meaningfully impact marketing roles everywhere.

Further, the very best data scientists and data-driven marketers will find themselves collaborating frequently, cross-pollinating best practices and earning a seat at most every table. ...

2. Data Management Will Become a Real Industry

Facebook's highly publicized move to allow users to download their data in bulk is a stand-in for any kind of real change (with all due respect to Dave Recordon and others). It's a gesture at best, far from any notion of true portability.

But, it's still an indicator that we're getting closer to our long-held vision of data that is accessible and transportable and managed by its rightful owner - you (whether "you" is an individual, a family, a group, or an organization).

3. The Floodgates Are Opening

Data has long been left abandoned in dark recesses and behind firewalls, either forgotten or hidden. The increasingly obvious value that can be gleaned from data is coaxing it back out into the open (thriving black markets not withstanding).

Bundle is one example of how major sources of data are starting to open. Born out of Citibank, Bundle has access to anonymized transaction records from more than 20 million people (compared to 3 million for Mint Data) that allows them to produce all kinds of useful magic for everyday people. ...

4. Big Data Will Become a Regulated Industry

This one is definitely happening - you can just feel it. You don't spend this kind of money (ahem, Google) lobbying unless you're worried about the cards falling the wrong way (Facebook (Facebook), naturally).

I think that Better Advertising is actually a good idea because it will, at a minimum, take the online privacy conversation to everyday web users. But there's no doubt that its critics are barking up the right tree - namely, that the group's motives are potentially flawed (read: the advertising industry is regulating itself on its own terms in order to avoid being regulated by the government, under other auspices).

5. You'll Be Sick of Hearing About Data (If You're Not Already)

I have spoken to no fewer than three journalists in the past week who have complained of a recent deluge of data-related pitches full of jargon their senders don't fully grasp. And those journalists are also getting savvier about examining the reality and assumptions behind those sexy infographics and the methodology of data capture in those pageview-grabbing studies.

mashable.com/2010/12/20/data-predictions/