Big Data and Energy Security: Impacts on Private Companies, National Economies and Societies

The importance of energy security for the successful functioning of private companies, national economies, and the overall society cannot be underestimated. Energy is a critical infrastructure for any modern society, and its reliable functioning is essential for all economic sectors and for the well-being of everybody. Uncertainty in terms of the availability of information, namely reliable data to make predictions and to plan for investment as well as for other actions of stakeholders in the energy markets is one of the factors with the highest influence on energy security. This uncertainty can be connected with many factors, such as the availability of reliable data or actions of stakeholders themselves. For example, the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed negative impacts of uncertainty on decision-making processes and markets. At the time point when the market participants started to receive real-time information about the situation, the energy markets began to ease. This is one scenario where Big Data can be used to amplify information to various stakeholders to prevent panic and to ensure market stability and security of supply. Considering the novelty of this topic, our methodology is based on the meta-analysis of existing studies in the area of impacts of energy security on private companies, the national economy, and society. The results show that, in a fast-paced digital world characterized by technological advances, the use of Big Data technology provides a unique niche point to close this gap in information disparity by levering the use of unconventional data sources to integrate technologies, stakeholders, and markets to promote energy security and market stability. The potential of Big Data technology is yet to be fully utilized. Big Data can handle large data sets characterized by volume, variety, velocity, value, and complexity. Our conclusion is that the challenge for energy markets is to leverage this technology to mine available socioeconomic, political, geographic, and environmental data responsibly and to provide indicators that predict future global supply and demand. This information is crucial for energy security and ensuring global economic prosperity.