It’s not so much in the collecting of the dots as it is in the connecting a link to your business that matters. Just last week one of my favorites, the best selling business author, Seth Godin wrote “Connecting dots, solving the problem that hasn’t been solved before, seeing the pattern before it is made obvious, is more essential than ever before. Why then, do we spend so much time collecting dots? More facts, more tests, more need for data, even when we have no clue (and no practice) in doing anything with it.”
In fact it is difficult to come up with news for industry that isn’t related to digital technology and/or the mere collection and measuring of data points—and it’s supposed value. I include a couple of factoids in that regard in this very post.
Consider these 25 timely news bits, appetizers for real discussion. Consider how each one just might be at the end of a tail wagging you about.
Godin said, the ability to connect the dots is “what’s rare, and valuable”. In fact, a bag of dots isn’t worth as much as an ounce of your insight.
I hope you find my sample interesting, and motivating. Be industrious.
44 percent
Capacity utilization at Fiat’s European factories vs. more than 100 percent at Chrysler plants in the U.S.
IHS Automotive10 billion
Projected number of smartphone devices on the planet by 2017—an equivalent of 1.4 units per capita worldwide (7.6 billion people)
Cisco study$1.2 billion
Amount Toyota agreed to pay to settle the largest criminal penalty ever levied on an automaker in the U.S (for concealing safety defects)
NYtimes.com70,000
Number of temporary workers Amazon hired during the last holiday season—up 40% from the previous year
NPR.org375
Number of planned new vehicle introductions U.S. automakers will roll out between 2013 and fourth-quarter 2015
POLK Research$200 million
Amount Apple paid for analytics firm Topsy, allowing the world’s most valuable company to gain access to every single Tweet in real time
Evan Applegate/Bloomberg0.64%
Total U.S. farmland devoted to certified organic food crops—notwithstanding the tripling of retail sales of organics since 2003
Nutrician Business Journal$726 million
Amount Corning glass spent in the last fiscal year on R&D (9.1 percent of revenue) to maintain its lead in the manufacture of smartphone display screens
Businessweek.com6000
Number cyberwarrior positions, including digital spies, hackers and investigators, the U.S. defense department is attempting to fill by 2016
Businessweek19 percent
Harley-Davidson’s first quarter jump in profits—gained in large part from new model sales abroad
Bloomberg+84%
Projected increase in Twitter’s ad revenue over 2013, estimated at $1.1 billion
CBSnews.com290,000
Shortage of professional inspectors, engineers and teachers estimated by 2020
American Welding Society2,717 feet
The height of the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai is 1,266 feet taller than the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago and more than double the height of the Empire State building
WIKI$12.9 billion
Projected revenue from “big data” in 2014—up from $3.2 billion in 2010
Fast Company189 percent
Gain in manufacturing output per hour, attributed to investments in laborsaving machinery over the last 30 years
Bloomberg$1.1 billion
Amount Monsanto spent to acquire data-analytics businesses that help farmers micro-manage their fields
Modernfarmer.com21,000
Pieces of metal space wreckage and debris the size of a grapefruit or larger orbiting the earth at 17,000 mph
Bloomberg$29,400
Average student debt load for the class of 2012
Institute for College Access & Success’ Project on Student Debt271,000
Tonnage of nickel mined in Indonesia in 2013 along with 18 percent of the world’s bauxite, used to make aluminum
Bloomberg$20 billion
Market capitalization for Tesla Motors—already worth more than Fiat and three Japanese automakers, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Isuzu (the latter have withdrawn from the U.S. market altogether)
Reuters.com900 gigawatts
Amount of wind capacity floating turbines will tap from their proposed location off the U.S. Pacific coast
Businessweek.com$365 million
Amount of customers’ dollars “misplaced” by Mt. Gox the Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange that went offline February 25
Theguardian.com+7%
Projected increase in spending on equipment by manufacturing companies in 2014 (to $211 billion) double that of the prior year
IHS Global Insight$750 million
Dollar investment BMW made at its factory in Spartanburg, S.C., making it the largest car factory in the United States by number of employees
Huffingtonpost.com4 years
Waiting time for delivery of a $64.5 million G650 Gulfstream by General Dynamics
IHS Global Insight
HIT Solutions believes the more your business keeps up with important trends, the more you will improve your product, and improve your bottom line.
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