By Randall Reid, ICMA Staff

That title captured my attention because it puts the concept of “big data” into a useful context. Tom Miller, president and CEO of the National Research Center Inc., puts it this way in a recent blog post on the NRC site:

“The good news for local government administrators is that data are big, not just because of their volume and the potential for unexpected relationships lurking in the numbers. Data are big because they can answer important questions. Furthermore, local government does not want for large volumes of useful data . . . . Government needs thoughtful leaders and skilled researchers to determine what to do with the data it already has. . . .

“So forget worrying about finding the next set of large data. Data are like grains of sand: in large quantities they just pile up. You wouldn’t order tons of sand unless you knew if it was for a beach, roadway, construction, artwork, glass-making, ballast or an hourglass. Similarly with data applications, someone must identify a use, ask what else is going to go with the sand and then the mashup can create the cement.”

Food for thought as local government leaders make decisions about collecting and analyzing data, comparing their performance with that of their peers, and identifying the management strategies that can lead to improvements.