Data Driven Economic Development

David J. Robinson.
Montrose Group, LLC.

We live in the age of Big Data. The access to massive amounts of data points matched with unprecedented computer power and broadband speeds are transforming the global economy. Who would have imagined that Amazon would have over 300,000 employees at the end of 2018 compared to just 100,000 at General Motors? Automation has been reducing the manufacturing workforce since the Kennedy Administration, and it hit agriculture well before that. Artificial Intelligence is invading the high-wage White Collar workforce in insurance, banking and professional services. E-Commerce is driving rapid expansion of job rich fulfillment centers but, in part, closed a record number of retail stores in 2017. Finally, Autonomous Vehicles is changing the transportation, auto industry and planning and development of cities.

Automation is the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically and it takes the form of robots and machine learning through machines and computers doing human work. Automation is good for global economies as it increases productivity which has tended to produce higher wages jobs. The economic impact of automation does not provide economic benefit evenly throughout society as lower skilled, less educated and poorer workers tend to take the brunt of job losses. By 2035, 47% of U.S. jobs might be at risk due to advances in machine learning, automation, and artificial intelligence according to a recent White House report. Automation will impact substantially the operation of the insurance, banking and professional services, and retail industries. The reality is all industries will be impacted by Automation and its oldest son Big Data.

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