SXSW – Music. Film. And Big Data.

Last year, South by Southwest was all about being social and connected. Path’s David Morin spoke about how happiness is the new form of currency; Good Think’s Shawn Achor talked about how personal lifestreams provide data for the public good.

What a difference a year can make! This year, it’s all mashing up different media—social, mobile, even games—to get things done. We’re seeing a host of new technologies that allow us to collaborate, get more organized and use analytics to make more efficient and productive decisions. Above and beyond touting the benefits of networks, this year’s talks are all about using the media at your disposal to accomplish things. For example:

• Designing Habits: From Big Data to Small Changes
• Enterprise Invades the Apps Playground
• Data and Gamification: Value to the Enterprise

The theme resonating through SxSW is that we’ve hit the place where big data, mobile and social converge. These technologies have grown more mainstream, and we’re now looking for the best ways to implement them. For companies, that means consulting big data, on any device, to find actionable information in real time.

The trick is to integrate as many sources of data, included unstructured sources and partners, into a single platform that is intuitive, visual and accessible anywhere. It’s not so much about the fact that the data or social media exists, but that it can be easily viewed in a single place.

Consumers and enterprises all want the same thing, namely simple, even fun, access to the information they need, when they need it. That’s why gamification, social media and apps are enterprise propositions—because people will use what they enjoy interacting with. It seems we have finally reached the tipping point where enterprise and consumer collaboration technologies are both user-friendly and actually help us to be more efficient and get down to business – intelligently.

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