Chapter 4

The Engine and Fuel of our New Era

"Visit the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels and you will come upon a curious exhibition. Hidden among the dinosaurs, mammoths, and other skeletons of prehistory, you will find the Ishango bone. As the museum artifacts go, the Ishango bone is not the most prominent or memorable thing you will ever see. It does not command the crowds or the attention of the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone, Michelangelo’s David, or the Hope Diamond. It is not even the most popular exhibit in the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels. But while it may not be the most popular, the Ishango bone might actually be the most important. It is estimated to be more than 20,000 years old. And it is considered by many scholars to be the earliest known object used by human beings to keep track of data."

"Data is the new oil? The comparison breaks down when you consider the availability of data and oil. Oil is available only to those who discover it, can make a claim to it, or the nations that are fortunate enough sit on top of it. Data on the other hand is available to anyone with the ability and the freedom to access it. In short, oil is finite and available only to a few, whereas data is infinite and available to the many. "

"While data is a powerful tool that allows us to see and understand the world like never before, if it is only used by people or countries working in silos, its power is diluted. The true power of data comes from the ability to cooperate around it, not just between teams of researchers but between entire nations…. We must cooperate, not as individual companies or countries, but as one global community."

"This is where we need more of a hybrid model between NATO, which mobilizes nations with common values around emerging security threats but also with the UN model that makes sure every nation is included. We call this hybrid model “UDO - United Data Organization” having as its main mission to confront global challenges, and at the same time seize global opportunities to create prosperity for human kind."

"Both the U.N. and NATO, imperfect as they both are, teach a valuable lesson that this new global cooperative around data would be wise to learn. That is the lesson of maturity. It’s been said that maturity is the ability to postpone instant gratification in pursuit of something bigger and more sustainable. Or simply said, maturity is not when you solve all problems at once but when you have patience and harmony with everything. This idea is central to The Sequence. "