Phil Simon's Blog, page 90

Too Big to Ignore: Korean Edition

한국 안녕하세요

I am pleased to announce that Too Big to Ignore will be translated into Korean. Wiley has sold the Korean translation rights to the book with an anticipated release date of early 2015. About a year ago, I announced that The Age of the Platform would also be translated into Korean.

I’m ecstatic that another one of my books will be translated.

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How Not to Visualize Data

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US spends a great deal of healthcare. See for yourself:

Interesting stuff, but this is an absolutely terrible way to visualize data. The word morass comes to mind. Can you tell how Mexico has changed over time? I sure can’t. I can only make out a few of the countries here. What’s more, Ireland and Mexico share the same color. Which is which?

I could go on all day.

Simon Says

Visual Organizations understand that less is often more. Increase the y-axis and decrease the number of countries. People might actually be able to read this.

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Fall Speaking Events

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be the keynote speaker at the following events this fall:

10.24.2013 – I’ll be keynoting the VISTA Expo & Symposium. I’ll be speaking about platforms, ecosystems, and open-source development. Attendees will receive a copy of The Age of the Platform and I’ll be signing copies after my talk.

09.10.2013 – I’ll be keynoting the Humedica Life Sciences Industry Forum. I’ll be speaking about Big Data and it can be used to improve patient outcomes. Attendees will receive a copy of Too Big to Ignore and I’ll be signing copies after my talk

 

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Tech Cocktail Week Interview

On June 13th, I gave the keynote at TechCocktail Week in Las Vegas, NV. Afterward, I gave a five-minute interview in which I talk a bit about writing, my books, whether it’s better to work for a small company, and other topics.

 

 

 

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Frenemies and the Age of the Platform

In my first Ignite talk, I discuss Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and life in the Age of the Platform. I stress the importance of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

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Visualizing Paris

I’ve never been to Paris but, thanks to Watch Dogs – We Are Data I can take look at the city in a single interface. I can look at subway lines, ATMs, fields, bathrooms, and a host more.

Or try London and Berlin on for size. Just click here.

Simon Says

The data visualizations out there are nothing less than stunning. Projects like these based on open data hold tremendous promise. The default question will move over the next few years from “Is that data visualized?” to “Why isn’t that data visualized?”

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Apple-ization of the Enterprise Webinar

I recently hosted a webinar on Understanding IT’s New World” for Code42. The webinar is part of the company’s the Apple-ization of the Enterprise campaign. Watch it below.

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Cover of The Visual Organization

Here’s the cover of my forthcoming book. Mad props to rock star Luke Fletcher.

I’m still on track to publish the book in early 2014.

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Mark Kelly on the Origins of Crowdfunding

Article originally appeared on Huffington Post. Click here to read it there.

Crowdfunding is all the rage these days. Sites like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and hundreds of others make it easy-or, easier at least-to launch new products.

But more than a decade ago Mark Kelly of the English band Marillion beat Kickstarter to the punch. In this TEDx talk, Kelly explains the origins of crowdfunding and offers some tips for those about to go down that path.

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On Privacy, Brand Value, and Big Data

Last month, I wrote about some of the privacy issues associated with an era of Big Data. Are we prepared for the drawbacks of a world in which smartphones, sensors, cookies, social networks,  search engines can generate a downright scary amount of information about us?

It turns out that I’m hardly the only one asking questions related to this topics. On his site, my friend Alan Berkson writes:

When it comes to anonymization, the challenge is in compliance—it’s easier to prove you are doing something than that you’re not doing something. Just because you can show you’re stripping out personal information doesn’t mean you aren’t keeping a second copy somewhere else. And even if you succeed in anonymizing the data, and can prove it, there’s no guarantee someone can’t it right back. Businesses need to get out in front of this issue. How they handle privacy and data will determine the level of regulation to which they may be subjected.

Berkson is absolutely right, and not just about the potential of future legislative sanctions related to privacy.

Think about the potential brand and company damage that can take place if an organization violates privacy/data collection laws–or at least social norms. To be sure, it’s true that European regulators take privacy more seriously than we do in the US. Despite this legislative oversight, however, cultural and business norms dictate that organizations at least pay lip service to privacy.

It’s impossible to answer this question, but how much reputational damage has Facebook and Google incurred by failing at key points to take privacy seriously? More important, could your organization sustain a comparable hit to its brand? Are you willing to take that chance?

Simon Says

Ours is an era characterized by Big Data, cheap data storage, near-constant connectivity, and unprecedented technologies. I’d argue that legal institutions that can’t keep up with the tsunami of technologies changing our lives in ways that we’re only beginning to understand.

Ultimately, organizations need to deal with a thorny issue: Does the fact that they can track user or customer data mean that they should?

Remember to ask yourself that question as you tackle your business challenges. What might work in the short term may well cost you considerably in the long term.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Tolkien via Compfight.

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