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"Big data enables new ways to create value, it's going to change the basis of competition," Michael Chui of the McKinsey Global Institute said this morning to kick off O'Reilly's big data conference, the Strata Summit. The next two days are all about the rise of information that has to be dealt with on scale, big data, and its consequences. "It will change the way companies, sectors and economies compete," says Chui.

McKinsey published an exhaustive 150 page report on big data this Spring, which argued that data will soon become an economic input as important as labor and capital. It's not just about pure economics, though. As Edd Dumbill, chair of Strata, put it today, our relationship with big data needs to serve humans - not turn humans into the servants of machines and information overload. "We know that big data can help us, it may be the case that big data has to help us." Below, a live video stream of the next two days' proceedings addressing this mega-opportunity and trend.

Older Internet consumers are very low users of smartphones and online media, states a new report from McKinsey. To analyze this more, we decided to compare the youngest and oldest groups surveyed: "Digital-media Junkies" (average age 28) and "Traditionalists" (average age 48).

McKinsey states that "Digital-media junkies" are three times more likely to be early adopters of new technologies. This segment makes up 19% of McKinsey's survey, up 7% from 2008. The "Traditionalists" meanwhile make up 24% of the survey respondents, the same as in 2008. Traditionalists overwhelmingly do not own smartphones. They also have not yet adopted online media devices, such as tablets and e-readers.

Consulting firm McKinsey has just released a report on the Internet of Things, one of ReadWriteWeb's top 5 trends of last year. The report, available for free if you sign up as a member of McKinsey Quarterly, focuses on the "new sensor-driven business models" that Internet of Things brings.

McKinsey sees two categories for emerging applications: "information and analysis" and "automation and control." Many of the applications listed are for large companies or specialized industries (for example automobile manufacturers). But consumers should take note too, because there will be a lot more data about us flowing onto the Internet.