Data governance in the digital age: Canada's great big data map

Big data is usually associated with Facebook, not farming. But as Ian MacGregor writes, harnessing data from agriculture, mining, forestry and other primary industries could be the next big economic opportunity in Canada -- if we do it right. This is part of a series of excerpts from essays commissioned by the Centre for International Governance Innovation. He used the data he collected to create what he called the "great map"-- and in the process unlocked the commercial potential of North America. Big data is as important to Canada in the 21st century as Thompson's topographical data was in the 19th century.