Is there actually such a thing as bad data? Let’s see what. Dr. Michio Kaku thinks…

Last month, members of the Continuum team attended the Alter.Next virtual summit. The summit consisted of talks from so many industry leaders on how Alteryx has had such a beneficial change, and we would encourage anyone to go watch the replay. Though we listened to so many incredible speakers, one point, raised by Dr Michio Kaku, particularly resonated.  

Dr Kaku, a best-selling author and professor at the City College of New York, focused on how data analytics can drive both powerful business outcomes and impactful change in the wider world.  

“Even when the data is embarrassing, it’s critical that we not shy away from it, and in some cases, we might want more of it.”

The main takeaway from his talk was the revelation of what is traditionally considered ‘bad data’. In fact, no data is truly bad. Maybe it’s badly formatted, biased or just missing, but is it never just ‘bad’. In actuality, it's getting more important for this data to be considered, not just overlooking the golden opportunities that “bad data,” sometimes holds, such as data that illustrates how diversified or how not diversified a workforce is.  

Because of this, Dr Kaku considers data analytics to be the true driving force for societal change, whether it’s using data to alleviate global poverty, build a more sustainable planet, or diversify our workplaces. 

“Can you imagine trying to solve the problems of racism and poverty if you're blind to all of these things? That's why I say we need more diversified data from all sectors of society.” 

One of the most important things that we try to get across is how important all data truly is, and how beneficial it can be. This is why the following thought from Dr Kaku is probably the most important:

“Imagine in your mind, a mountain of dry, boring statistics and spreadsheets. That's what you think about when you think about data. Now, I want you to change your mind. I want you to have a new mental image from now on when you hear the word data, think of a gold mine: a gold mine, where nuggets of pure gold are just waiting to be picked.”