How Hyperdata is Revolutionizing Mobile in 2016

Hyperdata Means Hyperlocal

At the conclusion of 2013, Hyperdata was labeled the new Big Data, Big Data’s little brother, and “an awful buzzword”. Whatever you may think of the word, though (and it is decidedly of Silicon Valley), it has taken root in the consciousnesses of companies throughout the world, largely in tandem with the mobile boom. Setting aside the jargon, hyperdata is essentially data that is immediate, local, and lends itself to being rapidly processed.

The term also connotes creativity; The New York Times described it as: “Collecting data from all sorts of odd places and analyzing it much faster than was possible even a couple of years ago…The idea is simple: With all that processing power and a little creativity, researchers should be able to find novel patterns and relationships among different kinds of information.” Namely, data is no longer just numbers, stats, or even confined to all the details of a user; data, especially hyperdata, is immediate information about behavior, usage, or large-scale patterns.

At this year’s CES 2016 conference, several speakers (including David Soloff, CEO of Premise– one of the first Hyperdata companies) will address how Hyperlocal data is being revolutionized through mobile. At the core of the talk, is the premise that local, immediate data is improving our lives. And indeed, for Premise, this has proven true.

The company has around 16,000 users who upload data points (as varied as pictures of tomatoes in Brazil) to be processed by the team’s analysts, who convert the data into rapid patterns and conclusions like Consumer Price Index and inflation. It’s rapid, on-the-ground data that yields actionable information faster than official government data. And obtaining accurate information at lightning speed is one of the most salient ways in which our lives are being improved today.

Hyperdata is another vehicle companies are using to harness the primary tenet of mobile: its speed and immediacy. Not only does the medium lend itself to rapid data collection, but mobile users now expect companies to be offering these same things they’re giving. Access to this information impacts mobile user expectations and even punishes companies who do not leverage hyperdata. It’s a reciprocal relationship, in which companies collect and analyze rich, local data, and users reap the benefits of this data through highly personalized customer care, marketing, and products.

And the market for such data has never been greater, as Soloff noted recently, “Intensely smart people have been working with radically insufficient data.”

These intensely smart people exist on macro and micro levels: on the one hand, we have groups using companies like Premise to retrieve rapid information about entire economies; on the other hand, we have individuals who are combining mobile products with hyperlocal data to improve their mobile experiences. Users are more and more ready to share their information, their location, the things they’re seeing and experiencing– both to improve their lives in myriad ways, but also just because that’s what we do these days: we share. Transparency, in terms of data and information shared, is steadily rising as users learn how the sharing of data enriches their lives.

This data sharing could be as simple as a user sending a screenshot of a problem to a help representative via messenger. This hyperlocal data (an immediate problem seeking an immediate answer) both simplifies and streamlines the help process for the user, while also giving the company information about the on-the-ground experience of the user. In fact, Premise’s whole premise, is that it collects seemingly inconsequential, “small” data to collectively make actionable assessments of large populations.

Hyperdata is the complement of Big Data. It is the collection of single data points, individuals, a picture, a text, that are then brought together to be analyzed for pattern recognition and conclusions. At its core mobile is data that is immediate, personal, on-the-go. And it is indicative of the ways in which we are consuming information: ever more rapidly, more immediately, more in-context. It’s a result of mobile realizing what its users crave most: information that’s accurate, specific, and instant. As panelists discuss how hyperdata is improving our lives at this year’s CES conference, it’s evident that it’s sure to play a big role in the mobile discussion of 2016.