It all started with databases
Today, nothing works without data: whether in science, in everyday life or in cell phones - data and its processing and preparation play a central role. How did it all begin? Let's take a look at some of the highlights in the history of data collection. Mathematicians were already thinking about mechanical calculating machines in the 17th century, while punched cards made life easier for recurring predecessors from the 18th century onwards by being used as an early memory for existing data. Our grandparents still remember that the first computers also made use of this tool, whereas today they seem like data technology dinosaurs. Data alone is not enough. In 1892, a crime was solved for the first time with the help of an unmistakable fingerprint, but it was years before data was systematically collected and analyzed. A famous historical criminal case illustrates the problem: in 1911, the theft of the famous da Vinci painting “Mona Lisa” from the Louvre in Paris kept the public in suspense. A fingerprint of the thief was found on the protective glass that was left behind. A print that was already in a Paris police database, as it later turned out. What was missing was a method to search this earlier database quickly and systematically. It ultimately took two years to find the thief.
The next stage: EDP and IT
Data processing (in short: DP) is the keyword that leads us to the next stage of development in the history of the data world. After manual data processing (handwritten data is also transferred to tables or lists by hand), machine data processing began its triumphant advance at the end of the 19th century. The first major test was a census in the USA in 1890/91, in which data for statistical purposes was recorded using punched cards. Things got really interesting in the middle of the last century when, after the end of the Second World War, electronic data processing (EDP for short) was developed enormously and, in its wake, information technology (IT for short) conquered more and more space. And then came personal computers in the 1980s and the Internet in the 1990s. The rest is history - or rather the present and the future.
Big data, data science and co.
With the spread of the internet, data processing has undergone something of a revolution. The fact that data and information can be exchanged worldwide in real time has changed almost all areas of life and led to the emergence of completely new business models. We all know what a smartphone can do today, because it has become an everyday object. There is no end in sight to the applications of ever smaller devices.
In recent years, technologies such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have once again greatly expanded the possibilities of data processing. The social impact of all new technological developments remains to be seen. How and for what purposes we collect and process these huge amounts of data is our responsibility and must be discussed publicly and may well be subject to critical scrutiny.
What is emerging
The digital age has long since begun and has many gadgets in its luggage. Robot vacuum cleaners and mowing robots, for example (their pros and cons are also debatable), new augmented reality glasses that are set to replace smartwatches, humanoid robots and countless other possibilities arising from the use of artificial intelligence. The development remains exciting.
