Big data 'absolutely critical' to boosting European economy

SAS VP Mikael Hagstrom tells Amsterdam conference big data is vital to increasing competitiveness in a digital economy

Big data can "absolutely" play a part in improving Europe's financial situation as it helps drive competitiveness in a digital economy. That's the view of Mikael Hagstrom, executive vice president of SAS Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific (pictured, middle right).

He made the comments during the SAS "Innovate. Optimise. Transform. Creating the Analytics Advantage" conference in Amsterdam, part of the firm's Premier Business Leadership Series.

"It comes back to the idea of a digital economy and being competitive in a digital economy and that is driven by big data and the use of analytics to get to that big data," Hagstrom told the audience.

"In terms of increasing growth, it really comes back to three pillars we usually talk about in the transatlantic economy. The first one is to really have the next generation of skills in the workforce, and at the moment in Europe with 50 per cent unemployment or higher [among young adults], you actually have a group with digitally savvy skills, but they're not fully leveraged in the economy," he explained.

Hagstrom pointed to figures that suggest almost 70 per cent of GDP in Europe is generated by the services industry, but that only 23 per cent of that sector export services to countries outside the bloc, and that these firms tend to be those that take advantage of digital platforms.

"So it comes back to the digital knowledge in the workforce, which is a modern labour form if you will, that then enables us to drive more innovation, with the result that products become more customer specific.

"So I think when we look at the value of big data and the importance of using analytics to leverage that big data, it's really about the competitiveness of Europe.

"I think the digital economy is absolutely fundamental for the future of Europe, for the competitiveness of Europe, because it's an always-on, 24/7 environment that we need to be competitive in."