Collection, collation, analysis, and curation of data is fundamental to every aspect of life, research, and business; every process is a data transaction, each one presenting risk and opportunity.
Modern technology can provide more data than we know what to do with. Figuring out how to benefit from this is the real issue - we are now rarely restricted by technology but by conformism to an obsolete social architecture.
We must acknowledge that the way in which we handle data, every process upon which society relies, is changing as data becomes ubiquitous. The fact that information is no longer restricted by locality demands change to virtually every social and business process; and software developments should not fossilise dying practices but enable and drive change.