"Quick", "big" or otherwise, over the past six months, data has been centre stage at every turn.

Only the other week, Facebook was left embarrassed after a technical glitch that exposed the data of six million members to strangers.

Just before that, Edward Snowden’s leak of the US Government’s Operation Prism dominated front-page news for over a fortnight. Even Sir Martin Sorrell admitted he was surprised by the scandal, warning it would have a "significant impact" on people’s views about data.

Last month, at Cannes 2013 – traditionally a festival of creativity – data became a prominent topic, with Mindshare CEO Nick Emery suggesting the festival has transformed from a content conference into a technology conference.

"The central issue now," he said in an interview with The Guardian, "seems to be how agencies react … to data."