Looking In The Right Spot

Experts have been looking for the link between heredity and influence to illustrate a correlation to criminal behavior for decades and yet the argument that remains is whether there is one isolatable factor between the two.

With no visible resolution in sight, lessons learned have been borrowed by consumer-focused markets to identify, track and predict how to win for their purpose, yielding substantial revenues, profits.

Lessons Learned

Gambling, Consumer Retail, and Insurance industries are just a small representation of companies that share a commonality; each consumer interaction is highly influenced by a set of factors collected and then calculated in an algorithm. The output yields a series of events which impacts our overall experience. Now, for most of us, this statement is not a revelation. However, we are still taken back when we learn that what appeared to be a random event of circumstances or “of our own control” was merely a computer mapping out, and in most cases, determining the outcome of our experience.

We have entered the mathematical age and aside from the benefit, considering just the financial potential surrounding these arithmetic goldmines, there’s no going back. BIG data is a household term today and quickly to follow is the predictive revolution.

Factors vs. Triggers; Relevance

Algorithms are based on factors or inputs, that when compared to or multiplied by another produces a result. More simply explained, A * B = C or for those Excel wizards =IF(A1<B1,”OK”,0). In either of these examples, A is a factor that when influenced by B yields an outcome. A factor could be ANY input that is numerically calculated and are either static or dynamic.

Triggers, by definition, are any stimulus that prompts an event. In the case of an individual with Asthma, a common trigger may be allergens or infections. In the case of an abuse victim, a trigger may be a sound, smell, or particular phrasing of words that recalls a previous event.

Isolated, random factors are easily categorized and allow us to quantify large amounts of data. In the case of determining the facts on historic events, there is no arguing its validity. When predicting an outcome of a future event, however, qualitative data alone will continue to fall short and requires additional input from a dynamic trigger(s) to yield an accurate, predictive result.

Timing, Opportunity

It is estimated that 24 billion devices will be online by 2020. That is one device for every single star in the Milky Way Galaxy. That’s A LOT of useable data……so, what are we going to do with it?

Capitalists and Philanthropists alike cannot argue that our nation is under attack of terrorism, child abduction and trafficking, and school shootings. These and other violent crimes are becoming increasingly more common, with little to no opposition standing in their way.

WHAT IF, we could get ahead of all of this? WHAT IF, we could draw correlation between historic factors and the dynamic triggers of today, fully acknowledging that our ability to predict the where and when of these crimes is only becoming that much more accurate with every device, data source, and data point that comes online? Imagine have the ability to keep our children and loved ones safe using the same technology we use today to snap photos, check our social feeds, and read the news….imagine, WHAT IF???