The structures of data

The structures of data

Some data is structured. It’s shaped like a rectangle. With columns and rows.

Other data is semi-structured. This looks like a bullet point list. With headers, main points, and subpoints.

The rest of the data is unstructured. Pictures and videos. Documents and emails. Slack messages and medical records.

Right now, the average data teams spend their time this way:

80-95% structured data

10-20% semi-structured data.

0-5% unstructured data.

In the next decade that’s going to shift. A lot.

Unstructured data is a gold mine. But until recently the pick axes and shovels didn’t exists or were crazy expensive.

The data landscape will change. Structure data isn’t going anywhere.

But a companies skill at mining unstructured data will put them mile ahead of their competition.

Sawyer

p.s. How does your data team spend their time right now (structured, semi-structured and unstructured)?