Is Data Really "the new oil"... The data asset IS different

How many times have we heard it said, “Data is an asset” and that “it's got to be managed professionally”, and “data is the new oil”? And from within the data community we often hear “nobody in the business understands us” !

However successful organizations have managed various critical types of assets for many years People, Money, Property and so on.

· So just what is so different about the “data” asset?

· Is it really so unlike from other types of assets?

· Does managing the data asset demand a different approach to other assets?

· Is data REALLY the new oil?

Furthermore, everybody has heard the saying “Data is the new Oil”, but how many times have we really questioned this? Having studied Chemical Engineering at University and worked for 40+ years in Data Management, much of this in the Oil Industry (Aramco, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Statoil, Total to name a few), I’ve come to the conclusion that Data is most definitely NOT the “new” Oil; it’s more important.

Sure, the catchy phrase may be trying to indicate that we have a Data economy vs an Oil economy, or maybe it’s that Data is the lubricant of modern business, or maybe that there are Data “mega firms” that control much of our lives like the Oil megafirms once did. However, while it is a whimsical catchphrase, the analogy is dangerous and risks spreading misunderstanding on all counts.