Throughout history, the economic changes that have made our production system and our enterprises to take a step forward have been tied to institutional, social and cultural factors.

Nevertheless, those able to produce the deepest and lasting transformations have been scientific and technological advances, as well as innovation and knowledge transfer processes.

This fact, asserted in all possible environments, becomes very relevant within economic and businesses terms. It increases so, referring to technological advances linked to information management and its application to competitive intelligence and businesses crisis management.

Access to information has grown in an exponential way for the last decades. From the time the Internet became a day-to-day element for individuals and enterprises, a race for managing, processing and analyzing huge amounts of information started. By doing so, Big Data systems started to grow, as a way to settle down chaos.

In an enterprise environment, which demands anticipation, foreseeing capability, and prospective, among others qualities, the availability to manage big amounts of information was seen as a great opportunity. But overcoming a challenge has always been the hall for next one, and so two things happened:

The first one is based upon one of the essences of any technological evolution. On one hand, after an exclusive period of time enjoyed by the most vanguardists or modern users, known as early adopters, comes extension and mass use at the end.

On the other hand, which evolves from the first statement, as innovation is assumed by the vast majority, the differential factor fades and the race for the next technological development starts.

Both behaviors have established a pattern throughout economic history. Therefore, the question that arises from this point is: which will the turning point be, taking into consideration that mass access to information is no longer it and that Big Data resources have improved the capability to produce accurate, summary and brief analytical reports.

The answer, that could be considered a hypothesis at least, is the following:

The current and future turning point is the same that has lasted throughout times. This one, desired by organizations of any sort, is and will be the same that has been around for ages: the human factor.

Access to data is no longer a matter of exclusivity and, therefore, it will become a massive trend. The same will happen with the capability to analyze data and produce useful information reports for decision making. It is true that nowadays a professional elite has the ability to access information, process it and come up with a useful document. This will also become easy to access thanks to technology, but it will not go beyond. This is due because at the final step in decision making someone will have to do it.

Maths can take anyone very far, but at the end they are not enough to make a corporate, business or financial decision. Human factor will always make a difference.

In a few years, almost everyone will be able to find data, segment it and analyze it, but not all of them will have the skills to make the right decision. Besides, not all of them will be able to cope with the uncertainty that comes along with decision making.

Human beings have always found themselves before dilemmas and with different paths to follow some of them relying on very well documented and researched facts to make them possible. Throughout history different options have been viable due to access to information to make decisions and limiting risks. But, even though, these are the facts and no one is immune against mistakes and, sometimes, objectivity has not been behind a great success.

Human factor cannot lose its strength against technology, but can even reach higher positions. Human factor economy has become a strong lever to encourage or discourage scientific and technological advances.

It is not information economy, not even Big Data economy, it is about the human factor economy, which influences all important advances on economic history relevant for the next twenty years.