With data becoming ever "bigger", increasing in volume (not sampling, just ingesting), with greater velocity (available in near real-time) and in limitless variety (drawing from text, images, audio, video, and many new forms), there is great potential to change the way we understand and care for the world. Specifically, concepts like “sustainability” begin to take on more definition. Big data is fueled by the power of transparency and can help to identify sustainability leaders and those lagging behind set sustainability targets across corporate and sovereign landscapes.

Transparency is the engine which drives any data train. As more and more information is available to citizen journalists, or required by regulators, our capacity for acquiring increasing “volumes” continues to expand. More data means more possibility for understanding and insight.

Big data offers the possibility for ever more nuanced and up to date rankings of corporate performance. The rankings that currently exist for global corporations focus on how they perform on environmental, social and governance factors. These rankings are generally done using small data, namely a sampling reported by the companies themselves, alongside other analysis and news stories. They can be weeks or even months out of date, and have very sporadic levels of assurance or verified accuracy.

Real-time rankings

True big data can transform these levels of candidness. Situations could arise where corporate or government behaviour is knowable and comparable through many different channels and is updated in near real-time. Consumers, regulators and investors could absorb this information through comparable scores, video and graphical forms, with instant feedback on leaders and laggards. Investment, regulatory enforcement and shopping decisions could be informed by real-time rankings of “sustainability”, looking at the lifecycle effect of supporting the product or decision of global corporates and sovereigns.

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