Beautiful Data

The Benefits of Just-in-Time Discovery

Advanced information management systems that play this "data finds data" game will not rely on users to dream up the correct, relevant, timely questions to ask computers. While this technology will initiate new policy debates, such as which data will be permitted to find which data and who is notified of what relevance, here are some examples of what a "data finds data" system can do:

Guest convenience

After tossing and turning in bed all night in a hotel room, the guest finally decides at 7 a.m. to call for a late checkout and schedule a wake-up call at noon. Shortly after the guest sinks into a deep sleep, disaster strikes when the maid carelessly knocks on the door to clean the room. Regrettably for hotel travelers worldwide, this most basic inconvenience occurs all too often. When the data finds the data, the late checkout and wake-up call requests converge with maid scheduling information. This "data finds the data" instance would trigger an automatic text message, notifying the maid not to clean this room until after 2 p.m.

Customer service

With interest in a soon-to-be-released book, a user searches Amazon for the title, but to no avail. The user decides to check every month until the book is released. Unfortunately for the user, the next time he checks, he finds that the book is not only sold out but now on back order, awaiting a second printing. When the data finds the data, the moment this book is available, this data point will discover ...