Data, as they say, is the new oil. It is valuable and vital to unlocking the potential of an array of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and automation.

But the other aphorism is that data is the new soil. This views data as something that needs to be nurtured if it is to yield fruit.

Too often, organisations neglect their data. They don’t audit it, allowing poor quality, contaminated or out of date information to inform their processes. It can sit in silos, unavailable to those needing it most.

As part of our Leader Insights series, we spoke to several specialists to get their advice on how to get the most out of our data.

Jo Watts and Sam Rhynas at Effini

Data literacy is a skill that does not always come naturally. It is the art of creating a story from data, drawing accurate conclusions, and using those to make decisions.

Essentially, the first step to unlocking the potential of data is developing these skills. In a data-driven world, data literacy is an essential skill, something that everyone, from workers to the C-suite need to have.

But getting those skills, Watts and Rhynas told DIGIT, is not always easy.

“It’s not just teaching people to interpret information, it’s teaching them to ask questions,” Watts said. “We encourage organisations to think about the right types of questions to ask of their data.”

Questions are always a good starting point for a data project, they note. Having a clear goal in mind, and using the data to accomplish that, is a better move than trying to get the data to do everything at once.

From there, companies can work out the level of skill they need – whether it be upskilling and training key members of staff, or bringing in an expert.

“The challenge is that sometimes organisations then try and go too fast,” Watts said. “We encourage people to take small steps and then build up skills and learn as they go with smaller and smaller questions.”

Martin Thorn, Head of Data Science at Standard Life Aberdeen

While data holds huge potential, there is an alarming failure rate for data projects – around 80%.

Too often, technology is viewed as a panacea, something that will automatically improve operations once implemented. But the truth is that data, like all tech, needs to be used properly to bring about its benefits.

“I think that data science is not yet mature enough in many organisations, and as a result we’re treating it with a certain level of expectation,” Thorn told us in our interview.

“It’s the idea that just give a team a huge vat of data, lock them in a room and then they’ll come up with the answer to all your problems. But when you check in with them a year later you find they’ve disappeared down a rabbit hole that doesn’t really help you or the business.”

The focus always needs to be on the business, not the tech. Why are we doing this, how does it help the business, what benefit will it bring to our customers – these are the essential questions.

“Too many data science teams are run by data scientists, which I don’t think is the case when you look at other facets of many businesses,” Thorn said.

James Fletcher, Responsible AI Lead at the BBC

Once an organisation has its data in order, and a qualified team capable of using it, that’s when the real advances come.

If data is the petrol, artificial intelligence is the engine. Of course, making sure the engine is running on the right fuel is vital. If the data is biased in some way, the AI will make biased decisions.

On top of that, the use of AI raises issues around privacy and transparency.

This is why, Fletcher explained to us, he is so focused on ensuring that the BBC deploys AI ethically.

“In my role, it’s about making sure that what the BBC does with AI and ML is aligned to the BBC’s values and principles,” he explained. “As a public service organisation, the BBC’s charter requires it to do what it does in a responsible way.”

Responsible use should never be an afterthought, or something to be tacked on later. It has to be built into a project from the start.

“The idea is that this should be in people’s minds from the very beginning and inform them every step of the way. So teams are considering this from the start – from discovery through to deployment and then also afterward, helping to monitor and evaluate when a project is live.”

Will Boyle, CRO at Forth Point

As data, AI and automation becomes embedded at the heart of businesses, that’s when we see their full potential unlocked, and we move into Industry 4.0.

This is where the potential of data is realised – a plethora of sensors gather vast amounts of data, feeding it into processors that then use it to make decisions faster and more accurately than a person.

Imagine a machine that can monitor its own performance, diagnose potential failures before they happen and even order the correct replacement part before it breaks down.

But we are still a long way off of achieving this, and according to Boyle, it comes down to an over-reliance on technology and a lack of values.

“Technology alone is rarely the answer, but is more often than not, one part of the puzzle – if you buy an Apple Watch but never go out and run, you’re not getting the most out of that technology,” he said.

“Knowing what you’re trying to achieve with even the most basic of tech is always going to be better than someone who has the best tech but doesn’t have a clear goal.

“The options are there but ultimately we need to be mindful that technology is not the silver bullet. It presents the opportunity for Scottish businesses to build back better, but it’s up to businesses to make smarter decisions about how they go about doing that.”