Data is ‘crude’, digital refineries create value

Economic history has consistently rewarded those who transformed resources more effectively than those who merely possessed them. Every industrial age has reaffirmed the same principle: resources create opportunity, but transformation creates enduring value.

For more than a decade, corporate strategy has been influenced by the proposition that “data is the new oil”. Businesses celebrate the scale of their information assets, while investors and executives increasingly equate ownership of information with competitive advantage. Data has become an essential economic resource. Yet it risks encouraging a misunderstanding of where value is ultimately created.