Sometimes it feels like we're on a quest to amass more and more data, filling graphs and spreadsheets like there's no tomorrow. We know that it's increasingly possible to track people, and we're told that arranging and rearranging information might just help in the elusive hunt for killer insights. But, at Contagious, we're hearing far more people ask: 'What if data wasn't just used as a way to gain understanding of demographics or to more accurately target someone, but as a starting point for creativity?' Some of the major winners at this year's Cannes Lions festival, as well as a few other brands, have already put this approach into practice and are developing pieces of work that take data to the next level. We're seeing tangible projects that use ones and zeros as a creative spark to give people a way of grasping a complex idea in an emotional way, so that they can feel and experience as well as understand. From graphs to art One staggering way that data was brought to life recently was on behalf of Australia's Transport Accident Commission.

Whether you choose man or machine, it takes a lot of money to avoid mowing the lawn. I've spent the past six weeks reviewing the Robomow RS612, a robot lawnmower that can automatically cut your grass and rescue your summer afternoons. This model costs 1,600 (Robomow doesn't offer this model in Australia or the UK but that price works out to AU 2,079 and 1,226), and other Robomow models that can cover larger yards can cost as much as 2,100 (AU 2,729 and 1,610). A less-expensive option for bowing out of lawn care is to hire a professional, which can cost less than 1,000 a year. So why would you splurge on a robot lawnmower when a real-life person is so much cheaper?

For many startups from countries like Australia and New Zealand, the relatively small size of the local market pushes them to go global, and quickly. That mindset means learning how to manage offices in multiple countries, time zones and languages -- something that requires some quick adaption. SEE ALSO: Online gaming may boost school scores. Laura Cardinal, global general manager at the accounting software company Xero, handles a team of 150 product developers, engineers and product managers across Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. She said learning to work with teams in multiple locations was a significant learning curve.

Xbox and EA Sports are now offering Xbox One S FIFA 17 bundles packed with a bunch of special offers that will guarantee players with the ultimate football sports gaming experience. Plus, with the new bundles, players can actually get access to "FIFA 17" five days before the highly anticipated video game hits the market. Earlier today, Microsoft dropped a bombshell at Gamescom 2016 when it announced the new Xbox One S FIFA 17 bundles, which are going to be available starting Sept. 22, IGN has learned. On its official Twitter account, Xbox also shared the good news about the bundles, tweeting: "Own every moment on the pitch with the #XboxOneS #FIFA17 [E] 500GB Bundle." Xbox One S is Microsoft's upcoming gaming console, and what better way to purchase one than to buy a bundle that also includes a highly anticipated video game and other special offers?

The next industrial revolution Australian businesses will face won't be based on mechanisation, engineering or globalisation. Instead, it will be the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will power the next great business push. AI is fast becoming a necessity in the business world and organisations are increasingly adopting AI to solve long-standing issues within their industry. Just last month, KPMG revealed they would be using AI to complete audits in Australia, which they anticipate will enable them to analyse bigger batches of data rather than relying on traditional sampling techniques. Taking tasks which usually require human intelligence and delegating them to machines has significant impact on business activities, including productivity, efficiency and even the way job roles are defined. But what really is AI?

With the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), tens of billions of sensor devices are projected to connect in the next decade. These connected sensor devices will automate processes across a broad range of economic sectors, from industrial plants to healthcare management, delivering productivity gains and hopefully quality-of-life improvements.

With the trends in personal computing favoring software that gets to know its users, the newest version of Nuance's Dragon voice dictation suite of software--Dragon 15, announced Tuesday--is right on track. Dragon 15--including Dragon Professional Individual ( 300), Dragon Professional Individual for Mac ( 300), Dragon Legal ( 500), and Nuance Dragon Anywhere (free to install; subscriptions run 15/month or 150/year)--is based on Nuance's new machine-learning technology. The company claims that this technology has improved recognition accuracy by at least 24 percent, thanks to its algorithm that learns your distinctive speech patterns over time combined with an improved capability to pick out speech from a noisy room. Lawyers may buy the expanded Legal version, which is trained using a legal vocabulary of more than 400 million words, according to the company. But the majority of Nuance's customers will probably invest in the Dragon Professional Individual version, which is designed for a more general vocabulary.

Dr Kate Darling, a leading specialist in robot ethics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studies the psychology of how humans interact with robots and believes it's important to consider such issues. On a recent visit to Australia she noted: "Robotics is really important right now. Robots are moving from behind the scenes in factories in cages and to new areas of the world, to transportation systems and hospitals and households, and starting to interact with people in a way we haven't seen before. "There are a lot of uses that concern me and other people working in robot ethics. It might be cool to have a robot vacuum cleaner but it might be collecting a lot of data about your home as they get smarter."

Artificial Intelligence will make society smarter, leaner and more efficient. But first, startups and businesses must enable the workforce of the future and pivot business models to incorporate AI. Mundane tasks such as driving, scheduling and logistics will all be handled by an AI assistant with multiple input points, such as microphones around your house and smartphones. The AI assistant will be the central nervous system of your life and connected smart home. In the future, when you summon a shared autonomous car from your phone to go out to dinner, your AI assistant will automatically notify the restaurant of your ETA and dietary restrictions.

Woodside is Australia's largest independent oil and gas company. For more than 60 years it's been a critical thread in the nation's fabric: if its gas doesn't arrive promptly in Perth to fuel power generation the city goes dark in two days. The company no longer relies purely on gas and oil for its success, however; it relies on data. According to Woodside senior vice-president and chief technology officer Shaun Gregory: "Our people understand that data is king, that knowledge is king." However; it used to be a burden, he says.