Too Much Digital InformationToo Few Places to Store It

It’s a good thing the average computer user occasionally hits delete: we’re creating digital data faster than we’re creating the means to store it.

Research from Framingham, MA-based IDC describes the digital universe as bigger than anyone expected–and growing faster than anyone predicted. In a report produced by IDC and sponsored by information technology firm EMC of Hopkinton, MA, analysts note, “For the first time, we’re in the situation where we couldn’t store all the information we create even if we wanted to.”

The report estimates:

• At 281 billion gigabytes (281 exabytes), the digital universe in 2007 was 10% bigger than originally estimated
• With a compound annual growth rate of almost 60%, the digital universe is growing faster and is projected to be nearly 1.8 zettabytes (1,800 exabytes) in 2011, a 10-fold increase over the next five years.
• The average person’s “Digital Shadow”–a term used to describe all the digital information generated about him on a daily basis–surpasses the amount of digital information individuals actively create themselves.

The report notes that almost everyone leaves a digital footprint through use of the Internet and social networks, e-mail, cell phones, digital cameras and credit card transactions. But only about half of a person’s digital footprint is related to his own actions, such as taking pictures, sending e-mails, or making digital voice calls, says John Gantz, chief research officer and senior VP, IDC. He adds, “The other half is what we call the ‘digital shadow,’ information about you, such as names in financial records, names on mailing lists, web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centers. For the first time your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create about yourself.”

Technology expert Rob Enderle says there is already enough digital data to build the equivalent of 12 stacks of books from the earth to the moon. And by 2011, there will be 10 times more, along with two billion people on the Internet and three billion mobile phone users. “All will be interconnected; all will be creating and consuming content at an alarming rate,” the report notes.