Dan Sommer , Senior Director , Market Intelligence Lead at data analytics leader Qlik , outlines the trends he expects to see in the year ahead ….

Data literacy will gain company-wide , and societal , priority .

“ Data literacy , known as the ability to read , work with , analyse , and argue with data , is becoming more important in today ’ s analytics economy . In fact , Gartner predicts 80 % of organisations will work to increase data literacy across their workforces by 2020 . To begin making this change , leading software companies will begin offering these types of programs in 2018 , and good user organisations will take a structured approach to increasing data literacy .”

Analytics will become conversational .

“ The consumption and interaction of analytics have been focused on drag-and-drop style dashboard list boxes and / or visualisation for a long time . While there continues to be value in that , increasingly there are approaches available for what can be categorised as “ conversational analytics ”, simplifying the analysis , findings , and storytelling , so that users more easily get to that one data point they are after . This includes techniques such as natural language query , processing , and generation , augmented by search and voice . This technology , helped by virtual assistants and chatbots through API integration , provide a new means of interaction . But it ' s not a one-size fits all . While out-of-the-box functionality may seem novel , the real value is in contextualising it for a particular use case and business process .”

Reporting redefined . This time , highly contextualised .

“ We realise that not everyone will want to , or have the time to , go in and explore their data in detail every time . Instead , we will see different users with varying levels of skillsets . This means that in 2018 , reporting will start to become redefined through providing not just analysts , but also participants , with highly contextualised information — inverting analytics as we know it today . Rather than having to go to a destination to perform an analysis , it will come to users , embedded into the work space where people are . This means getting the right information to the right people , at the right time , in the right place , and in the right context . And in that process , many more people will be empowered with data and analytics than ever before .”

Analytics will become immersive .

“ Given that the price of virtual reality devices remains a bit too steep for mainstream adoption , we are still several years away from augmented reality . The breakthroughs likely will happen in enterprise use cases , with analytics playing a role . But immersive experiences can also take on other formats where users become engaged from a sensorial and social standpoint . Through better user interfaces , large-scale displays in digital situation rooms , better storytelling with data , and collaborative features , more people will be drawn to using analytics .”

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