How Internet filth can save you money

When it comes to playing buzzword bingo a current high scoring phrase is dirty data. This applies to the kind of flawed data that can be found within most large enterprise systems, everything from the totally inaccurate to dodgy duplicated in fact. Gartner even reckon that at least 25% of the critical information used by Fortune 1000 companies falls into the dirty data category.

But how boring is that?

Which is why I am not going to waste any more time talking about that crap, instead I shall spend my valuable minutes toilet typing. I can first remember the strange subject of broadband sewers entering my radar way back in 2002, when a company called Urband (which if I recall correctly was something to do with Thames Water and a telecoms concern) announced it was laying cable alongside the sewers to deliver broadband connectivity around London’s Docklands. At the time it was being hailed as the big alternative to the BT last mile, although I also recall that BT poo-pooed it as being just another crazy competitor. And it looks like BT was right because although some 80Km of cable had been installed in the sewers underneath London, I don’t believe it ever ended up being utilised. Although I will be flushed with happiness if someone were to correct me on that and let me know if it did get used.