Tag Archives: Behavioural Economics

Masterclass: What Are Surrogate Keys? – 2026/02/04

04 Wed Feb 2026

Posted by in data mesh, data science, Data Supply Framework, Data Warehouse, Data Warehousing, Inform, educate and entertain., information, Information Supply Framework, Knowledge, knowledge management, Martyn Jones, Masterclass

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Martyn Rhisiart Jones, Madrid, 4th February 2026.

Introduction

In data modelling and database design, keys play a fundamental role in uniquely identifying records and defining relationships between tables. One of the most widely used types of keys, especially in analytical systems and data warehouses, is the surrogate key.

A surrogate key is an artificial, system-generated identifier assigned to a record in a table. It is typically used as the primary key. It has no business meaning or semantic relationship to the real-world entity it represents. Common implementations include auto-incrementing integers or globally unique identifiers (GUIDs).

Surrogate keys exist purely to serve the needs of the database system: performance, stability, and simplicity.

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Navigating Data Warehousing’s Professional Crisis – 2026

13 Tue Jan 2026

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Martyn Rhisiart Jones

Read my absolutely fabulous books: http://www.goodstrat.com/books
 
A quiet disquiet has settled over the once-confident corridors of enterprise data. What was, not so long ago, regarded as a rigorous and rather specialised craft, data warehousing and business intelligence, now frequently presents itself in a more casual, even improvisational guise. A growing number of senior executives, technology directors and indeed practitioners themselves confess to a mounting discomfort with the quality, and at times the sheer quantity, of self-proclaimed experts who populate the field.
 

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A Brief History of Data Warehousing – 2026/01/07

10 Sat Jan 2026

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Martyn Rhisiart Jones

Madrid, 7th January 2026

The origins of data warehousing are often pinned to the late 1980s, when the term “business data warehouse” first appeared in an influential IBM Systems Journal article by researchers Barry Devlin and Paul Murphy. I was based in Birmingham at that time, and I also wrote a similar foundational document on Information Centres for Sperry Univac.
Yet, as with many technological breakthroughs, the story is far richer and older than the conventional narrative suggests. The foundational components of what we now recognise as a data warehouse were quietly taking shape as early as the 1960s, driven by the need to organise, integrate, and analyse growing volumes of business information in an era of punch cards, magnetic tape, and the first mainframes.

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AI Panic: What CEOs Must Know About the Tech Talent Gap

04 Thu Dec 2025

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CEOs and the Magic Mitten of Hallucinations

Martyn Rhisiart Jones

Oza-Cesuras, 4/12/2025

CEOs are panicking. Again. They’re not worried about a recession. It’s not a hostile takeover. It’s not even the GDPR lurking in their inbox like a passive-aggressive ghost. They’re panicking because of AI. Yes, apparently there’s a talent gap. A yawning, gaping chasm of human inadequacy between what exists and what robots can do. Only the CEOs are brave. Some may even be desperate. They are the only ones who stare into it without blinking or vomiting on the nearest whiteboard.

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Big Data: And it’s all gone quiet over there!

29 Tue Mar 2016

Posted by in All Data, Big Data, Big Data 7s, Big Data Analytics, business strategy, Cambriano, Consider this, dark data, data architecture, Data governance, data science, Data Supply Framework, Data Warehouse, Data Warehousing, Good Strategy, Inform, educate and entertain., IT strategy, pig data, Strategy, The Amazing Big Data Challenge, The Big Data Contrarians

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Big Data is all pervasive, all seeing and all knowing.

Everyone is doing Big Data, and if they aren’t then they will.  It’s inevitable.

Big Data will revolutionise the worlds of data, decision making and business.

Am I right, or am I right?

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Can You Read? Be Honest, Now

15 Tue Mar 2016

Posted by in Ask Martyn, business strategy, Good Strat, Good Strategy, goodstrat, Inform, educate and entertain., Marty does, Martyn does, Martyn Jones, Martyn Richard Jones, Strategy

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Martyn Richard Jones

When you have read this, if indeed you read it all, will I have failed to convey the essence of what I am trying to get at? Will a confusion of entropy win the battle? Will the wheel of fortune turn in my favour, or will I fail to connect and communicate effectively?

Let’s give it a spin and see what happens. Continue reading →

Marty does… Big Data and the Vs… Refutured for 2026

09 Tue Dec 2014

Posted by in Big Data, Marty does

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Martyn Richard Jones

2026 Remaster

HERE WE GO WITH BIG DATA VIBES

Clive: Yeah, well, you had to, didn’t you? You had to stand up for what you stood for, didn’t you? I mean, the only time I remember a similar occasion was, I was in, errm… I was at Spurs, Tottenham Hotspurs.

Derek: Yeah.

Clive: I was watching a game against Arsenal, and this bloke come up to me and said, “Hello”.

Derek: Oh no…

Derek and Clive – This Bloke Came Up to Me Continue reading →

The management and architecture of Information Assets: Ask Martyn!

15 Sat Nov 2014

Posted by in Ask Martyn, Data governance, information

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Martyn Richard Jones

The management and architecture of Information Assets

For more than two decades I have tried to convey the importance of treating information and knowledge as potential assets.

Around the world, the response has usually been mixed.

It is understandable that there is frequent reluctance to accept that information might have real value. Continue reading →

Developing and Aligning IT Strat

24 Fri Oct 2014

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Imagen3Written by Martyn Richard Jones

“It’s not enough to give signals.” – Enzo Cucchi

I wanted to call this piece ‘A random drive down Camino Real’.

But that is an ‘in joke’ and no one would get it.

So instead I called in ‘Developing and Aligning IT Strategy’. Continue reading →