How do you prove the value of your data?
We spend a lot of time talking to folks in the financial sector about the data we are identifying via the Streamdata.io API Gallery. One common conversation we find ourselves having during these talks is around the importance of having 3-5 years of historical data present. Serious investors are looking for historical data so that they can prove the value of it when added to their existing data stories, and evolve their current models which they use as part of their investing strategies.
It is easy to make assumptions regarding how alternative data will impact investment models, but if you can’t demonstrate it based on historical data, most investors aren’t interested. Making historical data essential to doing business with the established and savvy class of big data investors that exist today. These investors aren’t operating around dreams of big data, and the promise that machine learning brings to the table. For them to put their money on the table, they need to be able to demonstrate the value data will bring in helping the achieve alpha across their portfolios.
This 3-5 year requirements significantly reduce the playing field when it comes to which APIs and data sets are attractive to investors. It isn’t that the data exists out there, it is just that many API providers and data stewards haven’t had a historical strategy when it comes to collecting, storing, and making their data available. Many API providers are focused on the immediate value, or perceived value of their data, and haven’t even considered the long-term aspects of their business. APIs can easily make historical data available, but they are often used for immediate access to real-time actions and events, and once the 24, 48, or weekly window has passed, they don’t consider the historical implications involved with API operations.
We are adding historical details to our overall ranking system for the APIs we are profiling in the Streamdata.io API Gallery. Expanding our perspective beyond just real-time changes, and considering which API and data providers have a historical view of their world. If you have data that goes back 3-5 years or more, we’d like to talk to you. Even if you don’t have APIs available for your APIs, we’d still like to understand the data and content you possess, and can even help you begin your API journey, and help you streamline, and even monetize your data assets. You’d be surprised what data has value in today’s landscape, and you might be sitting on some data that has a significant value to your business beyond what you are focused on today.
Photos Credits: Naotake Murayama
