Cross-Sectorial Requirements

Prioritization of Cross-Sectorial Requirements

An actionable roadmap should have clear selection criteria regarding the priority of all actions. In contrast to a technology roadmap for the context of a single company, a European technology roadmap needs to cover developments across different sectors. The process of defining the roadmap included an analysis of the big data market and feedback received from stakeholders. Through this analysis a sense of what characteristics indicate higher or lower potential of big data technical requirements was reached.

As the basis for the ranking, a table-based approach was used that evaluated each candidate according to a number of applicable parameters. In each case, the parameters were collected with the goal of being sector independent. Quantitative parameters were used where possible and available.

In consultation with stakeholders, the following parameters were used to rank the various technical requirements. The ranking parameters included:

  • Number of affected sectors
  • Size of affected sector(s) in terms of % of GDP
  • Estimated growth rate of the sector(s)
  • Possible prognosticated estimated growth rate by the sector due to big data technologies
  • Estimated export potential of the sector(s)
  • Estimated cross sectorial benefits
  • Short term low-hanging fruit

Using these insights, a prioritization composed of multiple parameters was created, which give a relative sense of which technological requirements might be poised for greater gains and which would face the lowest barriers. The ranking of cross-sectorial technical requirements is presented and illustrated in the table and figure below, where colour indicates the level of estimated importance, and size of the bubble the estimated affected sectors of the industries. It is important to note that these indices do not offer a full picture, but they do offer a reasonable sense of both potential availability and capture across sectors. There are certain limitations to this approach. Not all relevant numbers and inputs were available as the speed of technology development and adoption relies on several factors. The ranking relies on forecasts and estimates from third parties and the project team. As a consequence, it is not always possible to determine precise numbers for timelines and specific impacts.

Prioritization of technical cross-sectorial requirements

PrioritizationTechnological RequirementsScore
Level 1: Urgent  
 Data Security and Privacy78
 Data Management Engineering – Data Integration69.25
 Deep Data Analytics – Real-time Insights61.5
 Data Management Engineering – Data Sharing48.5
Level 2: Very important  
 Data Quality40.5
 Data Management Engineering – Real-time Data Transmission37
 Deep Data Analytics – Modelling Simulation37
 Deep Data Analytics – Natural Language Analytics37
 Deep Data Analytics – Pattern Discovery34.25
 Deep Data Analytics31.75
 Data Management Engineering31.5
Level 3: Important  
 Data Management Engineering – Data Enrichment29.5
 Data Visualization and User Experience29.5
 Deep Data Analytics – Prescriptive Analytics29.5
 Deep Data Analytics – Usage Analytics26.75
 Data Quality – Data Improvement24
 Deep Data Analytics – Predictive Analytics20.75
Cross-sectorial requirements prioritized

Excerpt from: Becker, T. et al. (2016) ‘Cross-Sectorial Requirements Analysis for Big Data Research’, in Cavanillas, J. M., Curry, E., and Wahlster, W. (eds) New Horizons for a Data-Driven Economy: A Roadmap for Usage and Exploitation of Big Data in Europe. Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-21569-3_15.