In a world that has an infinite and growing amount of data available at all times, did you know that only a small percentage of it is actually used in the correct way? Competitive intelligence professionals need to be equipped with the right tools and resources to make sifting through data more efficient in order to find the right information and insights. In doing so, decision-makers can use these insights and make them actionable, staying one step ahead of trends and competitors.

Information overload decreases insight generation

Have you ever tried to search for a simple answer but have been presented with so much data that it’s left you confused and unable to make a decision?

Despite contrary thinking that having a lot of information at our fingertips is a good thing, having too much information can make it extremely hard to make the right decisions. With the current state of information overload, and with information quickly growing across the internet with no structure in where it’s stored, it’s becoming a much larger problem.

According to Interaction Design Foundation, some of the most common reasons behind information overload is that:

• Huge volumes of new information are constantly created.
• Sources are competing in information which leads to a quantity over quality.
• Information can be easily created, duplicated and shared online.
• Sources come from online and beyond.
• Information is conflicting, contradictory and inaccurate due to the quantity of information.

It’s no wonder that 1 in 5 Americans feel overloaded by information, meaning that around 20% of employees are operating in a mental fog. 

So how can we make the most of the available information and generate insights that will help support the decision-makers? And what tools can be used to do so? 

How to generate insights from data

It’s the question everyone wants to know, but if everyone knew the answer, no one would be asking. Competitive intelligence professionals want to filter out the noise, reduce information overload and find relevant, quality content that can be analysed to become important insights. What they need are insight generation tools.

A few examples of insights could be:

• Early warning of competitive threats and risks
• Early identification of competitive growth opportunities
• Benchmarking of best practices
• Quicker response to market moves
• Better understanding of major players: customers, suppliers and politicians
• Future scenarios for strategic planning
• Accurate estimates for tactical decisions
• Improved development activities
• Identification of business blind spots

These insight generation examples are just a few of the interesting actions companies can take.

Luckily, artificial intelligence makes it easy to find the right information and support professionals in speeding up the time it takes to generate insights to enable decision-makers to make quicker decisions, whether opportunities or threats. In doing so, companies can gain a competitive advantage, identify possible speedbumps ahead, and even move into a long-term winning market position.

To extract insights from data and begin the insight generation process into making data digestible, professionals need to go through the following phases:

1. Data
2. Information
3. Knowledge
4. Wisdom

As the user exacts the data, more value, context and meaning are added so that it can move into the next phase. It starts with turning the data into readable information and once the user has reached the final phase, they should be sitting with insights in order to make data-based decisions. The problem is finding a way to process the sheer amount of information in a quick and efficient manner, as well as sift through the quality of the information. What they need is the right platform on their side.

Intelligence2day®’s insight generation model

Our platform is an insight engine for market and competitive intelligence and has the ability to turn big, unstructured data into actionable insights. Intelligence2day® does this by automatically collecting, discovering, organizing, analyzing and sharing information around your chosen industry. By shortening the time-to-insights, managers and knowledge workers can be supported in both strategical and tactical decision making to accelerate business strategy, product innovation and development. Here are a few other ways in which Intelligence2day® makes it easier for market and competitive intelligence professionals.

Collaboration

Users can collaborate with insight generation by collecting and structuring articles into lists for later processing such as reading, sharing, or creating reports.

Editorial review

Professionals can quality check information before it becomes visible for other users using the editorial review process to ensure highly relevant content is always retrieved.

Publish and share profiles

Information can be published in a standardized and structured format making it easy to compare and benchmark. Profiles can also be used as battle cards together with relevant news and other important information.

Insight creation and insight extraction made easy

Turning big data into actionable insights is easy when you have the right tools at your disposal. Enjoy automated insights from data that is quality-controlled by your organization to ensure all sources are reputable at all times. In these changing times, there has never been a better time to future-proof your business.

When you partner with us, you can enjoy free world-class insight generation training to ensure you use Intelligence2day®  to its fullest potential.