More Digital Content Than Room to Store It

As of last year, according to a study from IDC, the volume of digital information that was created, captured, or replicated worldwide was for the first time greater than the amount of available storage.The IDC study, using a complex formula to estimate the amount of data out there, came up with 281 billion gigabytes in 2007, or about 45GB per person worldwide. This exceeded the world's total storage capacity, and if trends continue, IDC speculates that by 2011, there will be ten times as much digital data around as there was in 2006, and only half of it will have a place to be stored.

The study also showed that more information is generated about us than by us. "We discovered that only about half of your digital footprint is related to your individual actions?taking pictures, sending e-mails, or making digital voice calls," IDC senior vice president John Gantz said in a statement. "The other half is what we call the 'digital shadow'--information about you--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." IT departments will need to not only find ways to manage information but to manage the privacy issues associated with it as well.ChannelWeb, Ars Technica