Nest Labs Inc. sells an estimated 1.2 million thermostats each year. Data scientists gather the temperature preference information
from 100,000 households each month; and then Google, which purchased Nest in 2014, uses skilled data analysts to help the company more competitively run its business. Online retailers, social
media and the Internet of Things — manufactured things that are connected to the Internet (like the Nest thermostat) — are generating extraordinary amounts of data. Plus, with computers
and cloud computing cheaper and faster, companies can perform high-powered number crunching on data to personalize products or predict future trends. "Data is a strategic tool that makes you lower
your costs, increase your revenues and increase your profits," said Amitabh Sinha, associate professor of technology and operations at the University of Michigan. A company with these tools, he
said, puts competitive pressure on its rivals.
Read the whole story at Crain's Detroit Business »