Mentions of big data within the filings of companies in the power industry were 29% lower in the second quarter of 2021 than in Q2 of 2020.

In total, the frequency of sentences related to big data between July 2020 and June 2021 was 108% higher than in 2016 when GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, first began to track the key issues referred to in company filings.

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When companies in the power industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. Big data is one of these topics - companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

To assess whether big data is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the power industry, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned big data at least once in filings during the past twelve months - this was 73% compared to 49% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to big data.

Of the 50 biggest employers in the power industry, Eaton Corporation Plc was the company which referred to big data the most between July 2020 and June 2021. GlobalData identified 71 big data-related sentences in the Ireland-based company's filings - 0.9% of all sentences. Fuji Electric Co Ltd mentioned big data the second most - the issue was referred to in 0.7% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high big data mentions included ABB Ltd, 3M Co and National Grid Plc.

Across all companies in the power industry the filing published in the second quarter of 2021 which exhibited the greatest focus on big data came from Voltronic Power Technology Corp. Of the document's 2,623 sentences, 22 (0.8%) referred to big data.

This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on big data and how important the issue is considered within the power industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning big data more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into big data have been successes or failures.

GlobalData also categorises big data mentions by a series of subthemes. Of these subthemes, the most commonly referred to topic in the second quarter of 2021 was 'data centers', which made up 65% of all big data subtheme mentions by companies in the power industry.