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Part
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History of Data Creation
The amount of data created in 2006 is estimated to be 161 exabytes. More information has been entered into the attached spreadsheet.
Key Findings
- As of 2006, the total amount of data created was estimated to be 161 exabytes.
- According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), in 2010 the estimate increased to 1.2 zettabytes.
Helpful Findings
- As of 2016, a BSA Data study suggested that 90% of the world's data was created between 2014 and 2015.
- The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that the "global datasphere would grow from 33 zettabytes in 2018 to 175 zettabytes in 2025." Furthermore, the IDC opines that China's datasphere is expected to grow averagely by 30% from 2018 to 2025, making it the largest datasphere of all regions.
- The IDC further explained that despite hindrances to the creation of new data by the coronavirus, more than 59 zettabytes would be copied, and consumed for the year 2020.
- According to Statista, the total amount of data created/captured, and consumed worldwide increased over time. In 2010 the estimate was at 2 zettabytes, 15.5 zettabytes in 2015, and predicted to reach 59 zettabytes in 2024.
- After in-depth analysis and studies, the IDC believes that the "amount of data created over the next three years will be more than the data created over the past 30 years, and the world will create more than three times the data over the next five years than it did in the previous five."
- By 2024, productivity/embedded data and entertainment data would have about 29% and 40% of the global datasphere. The former is said to be the fastest-growing data creation category with a CAGR of 40.3% (2019 to 2024).
- The ratio of created/captured data to replicated data is 1:9, this is expected to grow to 1:10 by 2024.
Research Strategy
After in-depth research through the public domain, the research team could only identify an estimate on the amount of data created for 2006, 2009, and 2010. The research team searched through the websites, publications, press releases, and articles from organizations such as the IDC and Seagate. We were hoping to identify a precompiled list of the amount of data created from 1990 to 2010. This search method provided some information for only 2006 and 2010. We also searched for surveys/studies/statistics from other academic and data organizations. This method yielded little information as there was we could not identify any precompiled list for data creation from 1990 to 2010. Our next step was to search for data points showing the change in data creation over time. This method yielded no information for the specified time frame (1990 to 2010). During our search, we came across information that "as of 2016, 90% of the world's data was created between 2014 and 2015." This could be the reason for little information/statistics on data creation from 1990 to 2010. Additionally, most of the information available was for more recent years and projections of the future. We got creative and searched for data points on the different categories (embedded, productivity, non-entertainment, and entertainment) of data created from 1990 to 2010. We hoped to triangulate the total amount of data created from the different categories. This search method yielded no results for the specified years. We entered N/A into the respective columns and provided some data points indicating the change in data creation for more recent years. Some sources used were before 2018, this was done to gather as much information as possible.