McGreevy made his remarks while answering AO's question on the amount of wasted data globally, during a presentation on the sidelines of the AVEVA World 2024.
The AVEVA World 2024 is a tech congress, held under the theme "Empowering the Connected Industrial Economy," that kicked off on Monday and will conclude on Thursday.
“While I cannot provide a precise figure, my experience in industrial manufacturing and construction indicates that usage is considerably low, primarily due to issues surrounding accessibility and reliability of the data,” McGreevy added.
However, the amount of data is projected to grow significantly, with estimates to reach 147 zettabytes, McGreevy told AO.
“As we deploy advanced tools such as analytics, artificial intelligence, reporting, and visualization, particularly in areas like electrification and construction management, the utility and trustworthiness of this data will improve. This will ultimately unlock greater value for users, leading to a substantial increase in data utilization as the application of these technologies comes to fruition,” he explained.
Moreover, McGreevy stated that a significant portion of data has not been collected yet.
“Current estimates indicate that 40-60 percent of systems, depending on geography and sector, do not acquire data at all. This may be due to equipment not being instrumented for communication, or that the data is either not transmitted or is simply not utilized,” he noted.
Thus, the projection of data volume increasing from 147 zettabytes to 250 zettabytes becomes more comprehensible, McGreevy clarified.
“To provide some perspective, 250 zettabytes is roughly equivalent to the total number of grains of sand on every beach on Earth. This highlights the immense scale of data we are dealing with today,” he further explained.
The event continues to showcase solutions and a vision of how AI and digitally connected communities can accelerate efficiency, agility, and sustainability by building connected information ecosystems.
More than 3,500 industry experts and over 600 companies worldwide attended the event.
Additionally, over 160 global speakers participated in the event, which showcased how generative AI is transforming communities and economies around the globe.
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