If you want to find the future of data sharing, look to the banks.

That’s according to a new report in Investment Executive, which says that according to a new Accenture survey banks are increasingly looking towards data sharing as a way to maintain their dominance going forward.

In many ways this isn’t new: Australian banks are looking to data sharing (even at the hands of a government mandate). But this new survey shows payments executives at 100 banks around the world believe sharing of customer data with third parties will be on the rise.

Meanwhile – how can companies solve the tension between needing cloud-based infrastructure to store data, and the increased security required to make sure that personal information is protected?

That’s exactly the question posed by a new article in CSO Online. It makes the point that in this new age of ultra-personal data there needs to be a balance between “elastic scalability” provided by cloud-based databases and security.

Right now, it says, there may be too high an emphasis on businesses identifying cloud services with the right amount of flexibility but not the right amount of protection.

Crucially, it warns businesses that they need to identify times of year when their data needs may be greater than usual: for instance, an accounting firm preparing tax returns at the end of the financial year. As a result, it says businesses need to take a huge number of elements into consideration such as:

• Data at rest protection
• Data in transit
• Authentication and authorization
• Backup and disaster recovery

As more businesses move to cloud-based infrastructure, the piece warns that “keeping costs down, whilst optimising security and elasticity is your challenge”.

In other news:

Nine Entertainment has launched a new advertising platform which allows clients to automatically buy ads in a new platform the network says can automatically predict audience numbers and change campaigns on the fly.

The 9Galaxy platform comes as ratings agencies around the world are struggling to deal with how to accurately measure traditional television ratings in an age when digital targeting and analytics provide granular, more specific insights.

The Australian Financial Review details how the new platform takes into account more than 65 million data points, the network says, including 10 years of ratings and 44 demographics, allowing with other sets including weather data.

Nine chief sales officer Michael Stephenson says the predictive analytical quality of the platform is crucial to its success.

The ad platform represents a sophisticated step forward for networks to up their game when it comes to delivering traditional advertising in a more targeted, personal way.

Worth a read:

Struggling to turn your data into actionable decisions? Check out this two part series on how to actually take the next step in turning your digital information into wise choices. Forbes.

Until next week.