Page 42 - EngineerIT April 2022

INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTS AND INNOVATION

Dark data, a missed opportunity data for longer than it should, in breach of
regulatory aspects.
for growth and sustainability The role of data in the circular

economy
t is estimated that companies generate 2.5 exabytes of data per day globally. Of this amount, Dark data is not only a burden on
approximately 80% is unstructured, which represents lost opportunities for companies and information security and governance, it is
Ithe possibility of facing a large number of unexpected risks related to regulations, reputation also responsible for the emission of millions
or sustainability. of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every
In this context, Iron Mountain has studied the factors that organisations need, to better year. This means that hidden information
understand the value of invisible information to drive growth and business profits through is an opportunity for companies to achieve
proper management. their sustainability goals while improving
their bottom line.
Undervalued Data When companies gain greater visibility
Today, companies have the opportunity to collect an unprecedented amount of data. However, into their data environments, they can use
much of that information is simply stored on servers, wasting its potential value. In this way, it to measure their transition to a circular
dark data is born, which represents one of the greatest untapped resources for companies, economy. The key to this is, firstly, adopting
when in fact it is an enormous potential source to generate value, facilitate business decision- a more sustainable management of the life
making, boost profits and promote sustainable development for businesses. After all, cycle of digital assets, then consolidating
knowledge and information enable greater efficiency and, in turn, greater profitability. several databases into a single centrally
As data collection continues to grow, the risk of information becoming isolated and managed environment, reducing the
fragmented, making it more difficult to locate, manage, protect and use for analysis, increases. data footprint by eliminating duplicate
Therefore, companies must take a strategic approach to data management and create records and archiving and finally, safely and
management strategies that accommodate all types of data, regardless of their origin and sustainably retiring obsolete IT assets, with
storage environments. a focus on reuse.

Protecting data, a key aspect for regulatory compliance How to unlock the value of dark data?
Dark data also poses a security threat to businesses. More than two-thirds of companies consider Iron Mountain has produced the eBook:
privacy breaches to be one of the biggest risks to their business. Therefore, it is important to “Smart and secure, data management in
locate, classify and manage sensitive data, regardless of where it is stored or what its formats are. the circular economy”, which thoroughly
To ensure data security and compliance with the regulatory framework, it is important explores the role of data management
that, first of all, companies carry out an audit of their dark data, that is, that they adopt a in any modern information governance
data cataloguing and mapping strategy to classify, structure and manage information to scale. framework. It explains some of the best
Second, they must encrypt all data assets. No obscure data should be readily available for ways to harness the power of dark data
casual inspection. Finally, companies should keep in mind that dark data often includes sensitive sustainably and outlines four actions
information that is subject to compliance regimes, such as bank accounts or card numbers, for businesses can take as a starting point to
example. The lack of visibility of this hidden information can cause companies to end up storing “unlock” the untapped value of dark data.

Liquid acquires capacity in

Equiano sub-marine cable in

South Africa and Nigeria

iquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies,
has acquired a fibre pair on the Equiano subsea cable, allowing
LLiquid to transport traffic up to 12 Terabits, bringing a much-needed
increase in international connectivity in Western and Southern Africa. providing Terabits of capacity to meet the growing and
Liquid, through the Equiano cable system, will address the growing varied business needs of organisations across Europe,
need for Internet capacity-supporting cloud services in both coastal and Western and Southern Africa. Through its extensive fibre
landlocked countries on the continent. backbone and satellite services, Liquid can offer reliable
The new Equiano subsea cable will link Africa to Europe via telecommunications and cloud services to over 1.3 billion
the West Coast of Africa when it is ready for service later in 2022, people across thousands of towns and cities in Africa.

EngineerIT | April 2022 | 40