DNA: The world's escape from the dark data crisis

The growth of data has increased nearly 40 times in the past 11 years, and the next three years are expected to see the production of more data than the world has produced over the past 30 years combined.

The total amount of digital data created, copied and consumed in the world was about 2 zettabytes in 2010, then the amount increased to 64.2 zettabytes in 2020, and it is estimated that it recorded 79 zettabytes in 2021, and to record 97 zettabytes this year, to reach 181 zettabytes in 2025.

For those who do not know, a zetabyte is equal to one and to the right of it is 21 zero bytes, and in a simplified form it is equivalent to the capacity of more than 200 billion standard single-layer DVD discs, each of which has a storage space of 4.7 gigabytes.

And if we know that the diameter of a standard "DVD" disc is 12 cm, we get that this number of them can encircle the Earth's circumference (40.075 km), about 600 times if they are aligned next to each other.

This is what was included in the Global Data Outlook 2021-2025 report, issued by the research company "IDC" (IDC), which indicated that the compound annual growth rate for data known as CAGR is about 23%.

What is the reason for this huge growth in the volume of data?

According to figures published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the number of mobile phone subscriptions exceeded 8.3 billion in 2021 (more than the population of the Earth, because many people have more than one subscription, and therefore the number of actual users is estimated at about 5.3 billion), and the number of mobile phone users exceeded Internet in the same year 5 billion.

As for the number of social network users, it amounted to about 4.7 billion, according to what was published by the “statista” website . These increasing billions of users of the Internet and digital telephone networks generate huge amounts of data every day, and private companies, public and government institutions generate astronomical data every day as a result of their accelerated transition towards the digital world.

This will enhance the rapid spread of the Internet of Things (IoT), whose number of devices is expected to reach about 42 billion in 2025, and the significant increase in the number of mobile phone subscribers via the fifth generation (5G), which is expected to reach 2.75 billion by 2025 as well.

The decentralized nature of the third generation of the web will provide entirely new freedom, privacy and innovation opportunities.

Can the currently available storage media accommodate this huge amount of data?

IDC report data show that the currently available storage media can only accommodate about 10% of the amount of data produced globally, despite the fact that the compound annual growth of the volume of storage of this media is estimated at 19.2% during the forecast period (2021-2025), Rather, the percentage of what it can store to the total data produced globally will decrease year after year. That is why only a portion of the produced data is permanently stored. Some people even demand that all data that is not analyzed and benefit from be deleted.

Dark data and environmental pollution

The carbon footprint refers to the total emissions of greenhouse gases, and this footprint in the business world and data related to digital activities is estimated at 4% of the total carbon footprint of all sectors of society, which is close to the carbon footprint of the aviation sector.

But a large part of the data associated with digital activities is dark data, that is, data that is stored digitally, but is not yet used in any analysis that leads to useful conclusions or decision-making.

For example, a typical organization with 100 employees and its data-related business, such as banking or retail, generates about 2,983 gigabytes of dark data per day, and when that data is kept for a year, it will generate a carbon footprint similar to that generated by 6 flights from London to New York.

But some businessmen and government officials see the need to preserve this data, as with the development of artificial intelligence, a benefit from its analysis may emerge in the future, and the increasing trend towards the use of “Blockchin” technology or “block chain” will contribute to an increase in the mass of data, being It does not allow the modification or deletion of any record, and a new record associated with it must be added with the date of its entry upon each modification, even if it was slight, in order to prevent information tampering.

Using digital DNA to store data will it be the solution?

One gram of DNA can store all the knowledge that humans generate in one year, and keep this data intact for thousands of years, as scientists were able to identify the complete genetic sequence of a horse that lived more than 500,000 years ago after finding its fossil .

DNA exists in the form of strands that can be read, written, and copied accurately and easily. One of the key features of DNA is that it is a dense store of information unmatched by any other man-made storage medium. The 181 zettabytes of data expected to be produced by humans by 2025 can be compressed into the size of a table tennis ball using DNA storage technology. It is believed that storing so much information in DNA could be only a decade away.

Gartner Research predicts that 30% of companies will experiment with DNA storage by 2024, with the goal of shortening the maturity of this solution to address exponential data growth, reduce cost and energy use, and thus reduce data pollution to the environment.