Explosion of digital data predicted

In 2010 the number of files, images, records and other digital information containers will grow by a factor of 67, a study has said.

The latest EMC-sponsored Digital Universe study has said that the amount of digital information created last year grew 62% over 2008 to 800 billion gigabytes (0.8 Zettabytes). One Zettabyte equals one trillion gigabytes.

In 2010, the amount of digital information created will equal:  

• The digital information created by every man, woman and child on Earth Tweeting continuously for 100 years.
• 75 billion fully-loaded 16 GB Apple iPads, which would fill the Auckland Sky Tower 3,093 times.
• A full-length episode of FOX TV’s hit series 24 running continuously for 125 million years.

In 2010 the number of files, images, records and other digital information containers will grow by a factor of 67. EMC adds that each of these needs to be managed secured and protected. Despite this growth, the number of IT professionals globally will grow only by a factor of 1.4.  Joe Tucci, Chairman and CEO, EMC Corporation, “This year’s Digital Universe study exposes many of the most pressing short- and longer-term strategic issues CIOs grapple with as they map out their IT strategies and investments.

“They’re quickly discovering that, to remain in the game, they need to do things differently, transforming traditional infrastructures into private cloud data centers that offer internal and external customers IT as a service. Private cloud computing, the next major wave of IT, takes them there, promising new and increasingly automated ways for enterprises and consumers to manage and secure this unyielding onslaught of information.”