The new Crayon State of CI report is out. There were a few interesting outcomes. In summary (you can read the full report here https://www.crayon.co/blog/new-data-competitive-intelligence-increases-revenue) and this is wow for me, a professional intelligence practitioner, is that CI programs are growing fast, and have become more important to their companies than ever before. Whereas in 2020, 58% of businesses indicated that they had CI teams of two or more dedicated professionals, that figure rose to 70% — a 21% year-over-year increase in the number of businesses with CI teams of two or more people. Crayon says: “There is no better indication of importance within a company than the dedication of additional headcount and resources to a certain department — especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic hardship. By rapidly growing their CI teams and budgets, companies are shouting from the rooftops that they know competitive intelligence to be an increasingly important investment. ITWeb report that we are all data scientists now. “News programmes have been obsessing about data in a way that’s never happened before, and data is more than ever in the public eye. We are also generating lots of data today, and are aiming towards gaining wisdom and knowledge that can be used to heal the situation which is has been so difficult for so many people, during this COVID-19 pandemic.: The founder of Data Relish, Jen Stirrup speaks of an “infodemic.” So how can we make better sense of the truth in a world swamped by data and information, disinformation and misinformation – what tools are there to help us to navigate. CI and AI certainly rank up there amongst the best. Do invest in this in whichever shape of form your company can afford to do.