“We have billions of devices used by billions of people, generating incredible amounts of data and we don’t really know what big tech companies are doing with that data. Standards development organizations are [asking] how can we frame this new big data economy in a way that everybody wins.”
Michel Girard in the video “Why the Data Economy Needs Standards to Thrive”
For manufactured products — take automobiles, for example — standards ensure consumers that the product is safe and works properly. But what about intangibles such as data? Michel Girard’s research makes it clear that standards have not kept pace. And without standards designed to manage the risks accompanying big data, “the consequences will almost certainly be unintended and unanticipated harm,” he writes. This research has already led to the creation of the Canadian Data Governance Standardization Collaborative through the Standards Council of Canada.
Girard’s work also focuses on an area of explosive growth: the Internet of Things (IoT). With no global standard set for ensuring cybersecure IoT devices, consumers can be left unprotected and devices used for cyberattacks. CIGI research is directly supporting CIO Strategy Council efforts to develop standards for IoT devices.