With technology driving our future in the ways we witness today, using external tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Workflow Automation, and so on are part of the new norm. What most business leaders and decision-makers in Saudi Arabia need to look out for, for now, is the use of ‘Data Visualisation’ to drive the future of their business.
Data visualisation is a graphical representation of information with visual elements such as charts, graphs, maps, etc.- making it easier for decision-makers to organise, interpret and understand data. Data visualisation tools are critical to decision-making processes and operations optimisation in today’s modern world. They are increasingly at the heart of new current command & control centres’ design and implementation in the Kingdom.
With the KSA aiming to become a more data-driven region as part of its vision 2030 plans, data will be an essential asset to the country in attaining its objectives. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the KSA big data and AI market is predicted to hit USD 891.74 million by 2026.
Why is Data Visualisation Important To Decision-Makers?
Visualising data helps employees contextualise it through appropriate channels for well-calculated decision-making. Customised interactive dashboards compile the global situational awareness capability, which is paramount for authoritative figures.
Raw data, on its own, would hold no definite value to a business or potentially result in a misled decision. The concept of data visualisation is to transform unstructured data into actionable data based on a specific environment, context and time.
Visualising efficiently actionable data could mean:
- Geo-locating it on a realistic, up to date and interactive 3D map
- Representing data (event, alarm, points of interest) by a relevant icon and colour code
- Using additional tools to enrich the data (drawing, text, pictures, points of interest etc.)
- Integrating data into trends or benchmarks through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Forecasting the evolution of this data through analytics and even simulation
Leveraging enhanced data visualisation through 3D geospatial maps and interactive, customised dashboards allows security professionals to save time in data interpretation with customised strategic plans and reports without needing an IT professional. Security professionals can also leverage this to make decisions and ultimately focus on their missions and actions.
Using an intuitive user interface to enable precise and simple data visualisation would be beneficial. Although this might seem like a complicated approach when considering the amount of generated information and possible actions and scenarios, the objective is to make it straightforward as it gathers unstructured, complex data from different sources and transforms it into concise and readable insights for the end user. This is where businesses can leverage the skills of a team of User Experience (UX) designers and operational experts to ensure the delivery of tangible results.
The Data Visualisation Market
Research reports on the MEA region’s data visualisation market suggest a hike with a CAGR of 6.82% between 2019 -2027. The fast-paced cloud, IoT, digital twin integration, and more will significantly impact the KSA data visualisation market growth.
With digital transformation initiatives at the forefront of KSA’s vision for 2030, the country is expected to integrate the latest technological tools, such as Big Data analytics and IoT, to build its USD 500 billion-dollar megacity project NEOM.
Generally, measuring a global data visualisation market can be difficult, particularly while examining smart and safe cities, infrastructures or buildings. The demand for data visualisation tools was positively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlighted a positive growth rate during the period, owing to the dramatically increased dependence on digital devices and the growing online presence of people during the pandemic – which fuelled the need for data visualisation tools. This was critical for many businesses as effective data visualisation solutions helped companies to sculpt effective plans to cope with the evolving business landscape.
However, data privacy, ownership and sharing challenges on data visualisation platforms, particularly when various stakeholders are involved in the same project, can hamper the market forecast.
On the contrary, incorporating advanced tools such as AI, ML and data analytics with data visualisation solutions is expected to offer remunerative opportunities for expanding the data visualisation industry towards digital twin.
The Significance of Data Visualisation in KSA
Since birth, the next generation of corporate professionals has been immersed in digital applications and connected devices. Most have played realistic video games online, with immersive 3D experience, which makes it unordinary to accept static views and complex software with manuals and hours of training. These hi-tech applications have evolved their journey from gamification, making their way to being applied within the corporate world too.
With the industry urbanisation in KSA, people expect to visualise significant progress in their daily technology use. This includes ordering food online while tracking the delivery location or booking a taxi on interactive maps with time indications.
Additionally, data visualisation helps track operational inefficiencies, enabling decision-makers to gather information and identify potential gaps visually.
Data Visualisation in the Security Industry
Emerging markets like the military and aerospace have relentlessly leveraged 3D and advanced data visualisation strategies. Military officers have been using digital maps and advanced communication and coordination tools since the rise of technology.
The markets have pushed their limits to more significant opportunities with technologies like Digital Twins. Technological advancements have helped create comprehensive software suites that offer a command & control platform, enabling users first to access the information required by their function, location, and condition, then interact and directly generate actions from there. This platform has enabled businesses to combine the words ‘3D’, ‘visualisation’, ‘command’ and ‘control’ into one solution reducing the observe-orient-decide-act loop within a reasonable budget and easy deployment.
Data visualisation is critical to the KSA market to develop and deliver the future of smart and efficient operations in mission-critical control centres of the future.
