ABU DHABI: Imagine a world overflowing with information, where the data created in a single year could fill 181 million libraries. That’s the reality the people face by 2025, according to experts, and the upcoming World Governments Summit (WGS) dives head-first into this data deluge.
The internet has become the lifeline, connecting over two-thirds of humanity and weaving data into the fabric of people’s lives. From buying groceries to seeking healthcare, people leave digital footprints with every click. But where is this data headed, and who controls its powerful currents?
The WGS tackles these vital questions, exploring the opportunities and challenges of a data-driven future. WGS’ this year’s theme, “Shaping Future Governments,” resonates deeply as governments grapple with ethical dilemmas around data ownership, privacy concerns, and the potential for misuse.
In a detailed report, Statista, a global platform specialising in data and business, anticipates that the total volume of data created, captured, c
opied, and consumed worldwide will reach 181 zettabytes by 2025, compared to the estimated 147 zettabytes by the end of the current year, indicating a 24% growth in 2024.
The report indicated that the total number of internet users worldwide reached 5.3 billion by the end of last year, representing 65.7% of the world’s population, with 4.95 billion or 61.4% of the world’s population being users of social media. This data analysis highlights the significant use of data and its impact on the future, confirming that engaging in any economic or humanitarian activity without data is no longer feasible.
The Emirates News Agency (WAM) sheds light, in this report, on some aspects of the role of data in the future. The data sector has experienced rapid growth, enabling two-thirds of the planet’s population to access the Internet, which has become a fundamental pillar of the information society, leading to the emergence of the so-called “digital world.”
The increasing reliance on data has transformed lifestyles, as
most sectors now utilize data to achieve flexibility, introduce new businesses, and develop competitive sources to attain distinctiveness. Consumers are increasingly immersed in the digital world, relying on the Internet and phone channels to access goods and services and communicate with the world. Companies capture and index data, leveraging it at every step of their supply chain.
Statista’s report on its website estimated the global data volume from 2010 to 2025. In 2010, data recorded around 2 zettabytes, which increased to 15.5 zettabytes in 2015, 64.2 zettabytes in 2020, 79 zettabytes in 2021, and approximately 97 zettabytes in 2022, reaching 120 zettabytes in 2023.
The International Data Corporation estimated that the global data volume from Internet of Things (IoT) devices in 2025 would exceed 90 zettabytes, and the number of data interactors in 2025 would be around 6 billion people, approximately 75% of the world’s population. In November 2022, the global population surpassed 8 billion people, with
expectations that this number will reach 9 billion people by 2040, according to reports from the global population census.
Engineer Raif Al Ghouri, a technical expert, said that decisions based on updated data are enlightened ones grounded in reality, and they can be built upon for future strategic planning. He pointed out that despite the massive volume of data worldwide, only 10% is analysed and utilised, as 90% of it consists of repetitive data, representing a mere fraction of internet data.
Statista reports that a lot happens in one internet minute, with millions of messages, emails, and texts sent, and data uploaded and downloaded. In the internet minute of 2023, users worldwide sent 241 million emails. Asia has the largest number of internet users globally, with over 2.93 billion people, followed by Europe with around 750 million internet users. China, India, and the United States top the list of countries with the highest number of internet users.
Data ownership is concentrated in giant technology c
ompanies, and this wealth continues to grow steadily amid the use of data in applications such as self-driving cars and satellites. The value of data increases with its usage, and the success of technology companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google is attributed to the quantity of data collected, analysed, and utilised. The integration of various data streams about populations, purchases, market patterns, and user-related information has led to high profits by meeting consumer needs.
Global spending on information technology is expected to rise to US$5 trillion worldwide in 2024, compared to US$4.7 trillion in 2023, according to projections from Statista released earlier this year. This spending includes information technology, personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, printers, data centre systems, enterprise software, and communication services.
Source: Emirates News Agency