Organizations are increasingly harnessing Data for Business Growth. The new found enthusiasm in making better use of Data and increase its productivity has made “Data Analysts” key contributors to innovation in an organization. The Business discussions in organizations is therefore becoming a ground for understanding new “Data Transformation Strategies” so that available data can be grouped and re-grouped for better business performance.
While Business is interested in monetizing every bit of data in the control of an organization, the laws of data protection create their own hurdles to be navigated. Everybody is going through a congested traffic. The skill of a driver is not only to reach the destination fast and ahead of others but also ensure that he avoids accidents and traffic challans.
The discussions in the Data War Rooms are therefore no longer limited to what fanciful things can be achieved by AI and Data but identifying the problem areas.
There is need to recognize that “Personal Data” has the high potential of monetization but is like a “Hazardous Inventory” which can blow out if not properly handled . Since this is a new development in India, it is likely to cause the greatest friction in the Data war rooms.
While the Data Analyst proposes a beautiful concept of how he can develop insights to consumer behaviour using Generative AI applied to the company’s vast data lake created over decades, the marketing manager gets excited at the opportunities and the CEO is happy with the prospects of a new revenue stream, it is the duty of the Compliance officer and the DPO to stand up and point out where the plan could clash with the new DPDPA 2023.
The DPO may point out that all the Personal Data which we have now was acquired for a purpose did not include the purpose which we are now discussing, and therefore unless we obtain a new consent, the project needs to be deferred. Alternatively the DPO may give a new challenge to the team to develop a scheme of using “Anonymised Data” or “Publicly Made Available Personal Data” and achieve the objectives. The residual risks if any arising out of the legitimate use or process related information security risks may need to be covered with a new Cyber Insurance Plan which could require a re-working of the economics of the suggestion.
This will be the new discussions which will arise in the exchange of ideas in the Data War Rooms with the entry of the new elephant in the room namely the DPDPA 2023.
P.S: (Data Analytics + AI)=Intelligence2 but Square root of (Intelligence2) could be a complex number . The imaginary number ‘i’ is the consequence of DPDPA 2023.
Naavi
