Data has been called  the new oil   and for good reason. While as recently as a decade ago our ability to use data effectively was limited by technology, today our access is nearly unlimited. New platforms like   Hadoop   and   Spark  allow us to analyze hundreds —or even thousands — of databases at once.   Open data initiatives   have expanded our reach even further. Still it’s becoming clear that there is a  data divide  opening up.  James Manyika , a director at the  McKinsey Global Institute , told me that he sees vast differences in effectiveness even among companies in the same industry, with similar IT budgets, competing for the same consumer. Gautam Tambay , CEO of  Springboard , founded his company to help close the data divide. His company offers online education in data science that pairs executives with personal mentors in order to help them navigate an increasingly data intensive world. So to gain some...