For a large number of companies, 2024 should be the year of industrialization of generative artificial intelligence. But “data departments are still struggling to break their current glass ceiling and have a strong impact on a company scale,” noted the Quantmetry and Capgemini barometer.
Another barometer, published by Opendatasoft and Odoxa, confirms the impact of this glass ceiling on the problem of access to data at scale. And this obstacle thus slows down the democratization of data, a target to be achieved for the vast majority of organizations.
The importance of Data recognized…
The challenge is no longer to convince people of the strategic nature of data. This point now seems acquired. According to the study, the use of data is a subject whose importance is unanimously recognized by 90% of decision-makers.
But for Opendatasoft, “a persistent gap between the ambitions of organizations and the reality on the ground” remains. If the uses are popular, the real place given to the use of data is not at the top of the priorities.
44% of respondents believe that this is a priority today in their organization. For the authors, the value of the data is certainly recognized, “but not yet fully exploited.” For which motive ? Because the value is in truth not necessarily there or perceived.
In fact, 6 out of 10 are satisfied with their organization’s choices when it comes to data use. However, 79% of senior executives use shared data for their business. But fewer than 7 out of 10 consider that they facilitate decision-making or are essential for carrying out their missions.
A very perfectible use value
Democratization also implies a multiplication of uses at all levels of the company. And that starts with adhering to the choices made. 67% of site or subsidiary directors believe that their company is ahead in terms of data use.
Among all employees, this share drops to 13%. “A result down 20% in one year, highlighting the gap that remains”, reports the 2024 Barometer. This gap is partly explained for the authors by a break between the vision of managers and the ability of employees to actually consume the data.
The data-centric vision of leaders is struggling to materialize. “The closer we get to the players who are close to the field, the more we encounter a certain number of very concrete difficulties which mean that implementation is not always simple”, testifies the CDO of EDF, Florent Verrière.
Between ambition and practice, an operational reality persists. This can result in “a gap between the very strategic vision (…) and its actual implementation”, as the Chief Data Officer explains.
Gap between vision and actual implementation
And in terms of implementation complexity, there remains that of large-scale access to data, “still far from being a reality.” 37% of organizations say they can claim it in full.
For 63%, access to data is limited, either partial (37%) or non-existent (26%). Moreover, for “the majority, this access is still done in an artisanal or unstructured way, via files sent by collaborators (32%) or data communicated in meetings (27%).”
Translation of a form of archaism, “ownership of data is exclusive and often associated with power”. This perception promotes data silos, preventing “unlocking the value potential of data democratization.”
“The objective is therefore to reverse the trend through educational work and long-term investments, and thus create strong and agile organizations, with a real common data culture,” promotes Jean-Marc Lazard, CEO and co-founder of Opendatasoft.