Internal barriers are the main factors hindering large data applications in the Asia-Pacific region

More than half of companies surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region have made only limited progress in leveraging big data, according to a survey published by the Economist think-tank, according to foreign media reports November 29. 91% of respondents said the main obstacle was the internal factors of their own company.

Communication problems appear to be a major source of slow application of large data, and information silos and the inability to share data make it impossible for businesses to benefit from large data, the report said. The survey, titled "Hype and Hope: The path to big data applications in the Asia-Pacific region," is sponsored by Hitachi Data Systems, which investigates more than 500 senior executives in many sectors and functions in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the survey, 42% of respondents said the biggest challenge was the lack of appropriate software; 40% said the biggest challenge was lack of skills. The second hurdle is a reluctance to share data and a lack of communication between departments, making both responses 36% of respondents.

The Economist think-tank says the problem of data silos is particularly severe in Singapore and Malaysia. Companies that are slow to apply big data do not have a good job explaining big data strategies to their employees. In fact, 40% of respondents do not know whether their business has a big data strategy, or that companies do not advertise the strategy well.

Although the application of big data strategies has not progressed in the Asia-Pacific region, 45% of respondents said they could increase their revenues by more than 25% by using large data to improve decision-making and better understanding of customers.

The report shows that major economies in Asia and the Pacific, such as Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Hong Kong SAR, China and Australia, are lagging behind in using big data. In Singapore, 47% of respondents said they did not have a big data strategy, followed by Australia (accounting for 31%) and China (accounting for 42%).

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)