Data Obstetrics: The Art and Science of Birthing Digital Data

by Gabriele Piccoli, Richard T. Watson

The increasing focus on analytics-based competition has reinvigorated the debate about the potential economic value of data. Today, though, it is not enough to rely on the data produced as a byproduct of the firm's transactions. Managers must design procedures and implement technology that digitally births data that will enhance a firm's analytical capabilities. Data obstetrics is concerned with the tools and techniques that enable data to be born digital. It embraces first identifying what data can provide a competitive advantage and then designing the means of digitally birthing these data. Consider two recent examples of digital obstetricians in action.