EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced groundbreaking EMC-sponsored research from IDC that for the first time measures and forecasts the amounts and types of digital information created and copied in the world - and whether it is generated from individuals or businesses.
HOPKINTON, Mass. (BusinessWire EON) March 6, 2007 --
EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure
solutions, today announced groundbreaking EMC-sponsored research from
IDC that for the first time measures and forecasts the amounts and types
of digital information created and copied in the world –
and whether it is generated from individuals or businesses.
The Expanding Digital Universe: A Forecast of Worldwide Information
Growth Through 2010 reveals the amount of information the world is
creating and copying in a given year. It forecasts this entire “digital
universe” through the year 2010, and it
identifies the specific information types and geographies contributing
to its growth. The report’s findings have
sweeping implications for individuals, businesses and society. The
complete study can be found at: www.emc.com/about/destination/digital_universe.
Key findings:
-
The 2006 digital universe was 161 billion gigabytes (161 exabytes) in
size.
-
IDC projects a six fold annual information growth from 2006 to 2010.
-
While nearly 70% of the digital universe will be generated by
individuals by 2010, organizations will be responsible for the
security, privacy, reliability and compliance of at least 85% of the
information.
In 2006, 161 exabytes of digital information were created and copied,
continuing an unprecedented period of information growth. This digital
universe equals approximately three million times the information in all
the books ever written – or the equivalent of
12 stacks of books, each extending more than 93 million miles from the
earth to the sun. According to IDC, the amount of information created
and copied in 2010 will surge more than six fold to 988 exabytes, a
compound annual growth rate of 57%.
While nearly 70% of the digital universe will be generated by
individuals by 2010, most of this content will be touched by an
organization along the way – on a network, in
a data center, at a hosting site, at a telephone or Internet switch, or
in a backup system. Organizations – including
businesses of all sizes, agencies, governments and associations –
will be responsible for the security, privacy, reliability and
compliance of at least 85% of the information.
“This ever-growing mass of information is
putting a considerable strain on the IT infrastructures we have in place
today,” said Mark Lewis, EMC Executive Vice
President and Chief Development Officer. “This
explosive growth will change the way organizations and IT professionals
do their jobs, and the way we consumers use information. Given that 85%
of the information created and copied will be the responsibility of
organizations and businesses, we must take steps as an industry to
ensure we develop flexible, reliable and secure information
infrastructures to handle the deluge.”
“The incredible growth and sheer amount of
the different types of information being generated from so many
different places represents more than just a worldwide information
explosion of unprecedented scale,” said John
Gantz, Chief Research Officer and Senior Vice President, IDC. “It
represents an entire shift in how information has moved from analog
form, where it was finite, to digital form, where it’s
infinite. From a technology perspective, organizations will need to
employ ever-more sophisticated techniques to transport, store, secure
and replicate the additional information that is being generated every
day.”
Other key findings:
-
Images –
Images, captured by more than 1 billion devices in the world, from
digital cameras and camera phones to medical scanners and security
cameras, comprise the largest component of the digital universe.
-
Digital Cameras –
The number of images captured on consumer digital still cameras in
2006 exceeded 150 billion worldwide, while the number of images
captured on cell phones hit almost 100 billion. IDC is forecasting the
capture of more than 500 billion images by 2010.
-
Camcorders –
Camcorder usage should double in total minutes of use between now and
2010.
-
E-mail –
The number of e-mail mailboxes has grown from 253 million in 1998 to
nearly 1.6 billion in 2006. During the same period, the number of
e-mails sent grew three times faster than the number of people
e-mailing; in 2006 just the e-mail traffic from one person to another –
i.e., excluding spam – accounted for 6
exabytes.
-
Instant Messaging –
There will be 250 million IM accounts by 2010, including consumer
accounts from which business IMs are sent.
-
Broadband –
Today over 60% of Internet users have access to broadband circuits,
either at home, at work or at school.
-
Internet –
In 1996 there were only 48 million people routinely using the
Internet. The Worldwide Web was just two years old. By 2006, there
were 1.1 billion users on the Internet. By 2010, IDC expects
another 500 million users to come online.
-
Unstructured Data –
Over 95% of the digital universe is unstructured data. In
organizations, unstructured data accounts for more than 80% of all
information.
-
Compliance and Security –
Today, 20% of the digital universe is subject to compliance rules and
standards and about 30% is potentially subject to security
applications.
-
Classification –
IDC estimates that today less than 10% of organizational information
is “classified,”
or ranked according to value. IDC expects the amount of classified
data to grow better than 50% a year.
-
Emerging Economies –
These now account for 10% of the digital universe but will grow 30-40%
faster than mature economies.
To find out more about information trends, history and preservation, go
to: http://www.emc.com/about/destination/.
About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world’s
leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology
and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the
way they compete and create value from their information. Information
about EMC’s products and services can be
found at www.EMC.com.
EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.
This release contains “forward-looking
statements” as defined under the Federal
Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk
factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general
economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information
technology spending; (iii) risks associated with acquisitions and
investments, including the challenges and costs of integration,
restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (iv) competitive
factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product
introductions; (v) the relative and varying rates of product price and
component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and
services revenues; (vi) component and product quality and availability;
(vii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer
acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market
change; (viii) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (ix) war or
acts of terrorism; (x) the ability to attract and retain highly
qualified employees; (xi) fluctuating currency exchange rates; and (xii)
other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously
and from time to time in EMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such
forward-looking statements after the date of this release.
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