The year 2020 will long be memorialized in the archives of history as the year that structurally changed society - from the way we collaborated virtually with colleagues to the way we socialized, dined at restaurants, exercised, vacationed, educated our children, and more.
Life, as we used to know it is now starkly different. But one thing has remained the same - the need for humans to connect during varying degrees of lockdowns, social-distancing, and stay-at-home orders during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is of no surprise that the earliest example of human connection dates back to introducing the postal system in Egypt in 2000 BC. Over time, this innate need for connection has inspired the invention of the telegraph, the telephone, computers, the internet, and the smart devices that now consume our lives more so than ever.
Everything is connecting these days. Everything is about connection. It’s no mystery why the single biggest draw of people to the internet has been social media: it’s the perfect metaphor for what the internet is, what it’s meant for, and what it’s capable of: connection. - Nic Schlanger (2017)
The other innate human need has been this unwavering desire to understand the universe and the world we live in. Galileo looked into the sky and connected the dots to lay the foundation for our understanding of the mysteries of the universe. Einstein introduced us to the theory of general relativity through this iconic formula: E = mc2. He made that connection between energy, mass, and the speed of light. Turing connected the dots to develop several techniques to decipher the code to defeat the Nazis.
Empower Users to Connect the Dots through Data
A common thread of these three giants of science is their profound ability to connect the dots through data, change the way we live, and gain new insights. This is not that different from how we manage our lives, careers, businesses, and investments. We face a constant barrage of ads that compete for our spend dollars, choices to make when deciding what jobs to pursue, and decisions to make when investing our hard-earned money. Our lives are a constant stream of data that we need to sift through, decipher, and then make our best choices based on the data and information at hand.
The idaciti platform was built on the vision to empower users of financial and non-financial data to connect the dots.
Our platform helps investors and analysts quickly discover patterns and anomalies in the data to generate new insights. We also marry textual and quantitative data so that users can quickly discover relationships and patterns never seen before. Our Disclosure Research application surfaces important textual information and embeds the financial data, within the narrative, as disclosed by the company. Now, the investor, analyst can see the context within which the data is discussed. We also went a step further to enable users to benchmark this data to other companies, right there in the narrative disclosure.
Admittedly, while there may be an Einstein or Turing lurking amongst you, most of us are just simple, common mortals who need help to wade through the noise to find valid signals. We believe one of the most important skills in the future will be the ability to "connect the dots" in your own way. Let idaciti be that platform to help you tap into your inner genius.
In memory of Nic Schlanger - idaciti video producer, musician, and overall talent extraordinaire
