Every single day, companies produce a new tidal wave of information, including emails, PDFs, proposals, invoices, receipts, social media posts, and many more. And do you know? Around 80-90% of this data remains unstructured, simply sitting idle and untapped.
Now, imagine what would happen if you transformed this data goldmine into a processed format. This won’t be just a technical upgrade; instead, it will give your business an advantage over its competitors by enhancing decision-making and operational efficiency.
There are numerous ways available that can be adapted for quickly converting unstructured information into a processable one. This blog post is going to discuss some of the smart ways in detail, so hang around with us until the end.
3 Ways to Convert Unstructured Data into Processable Data
Here are three of the key ways that you can adopt to quickly and accurately transform unstructured data into a processable one with minimal effort.
1. Use Technological Tools
We are living in a digital world, where almost every task is being performed with the help of specialized tools. This is especially true in the business domain, as companies can rely on technological tools to transform unstructured data into a processed version.
Several types of tools can be utilized for this purpose. For instance, an OCR-powered Image to Excel converter will enable businesses to quickly scan and extract all the data from an image into an editable spreadsheet. The image can be either an invoice, a salary slip, or anything.
Source: https://www.imagetotext.io/image-to-excel
So, when the data is available in a well-formatted manner (Excel sheet), it will be easier for business individuals to process it further.
Beyond OCR-powered tools, companies can also leverage ETL (Extract, Transfer & Load) tools like Apache NiFi to automate the data collection, cleaning, and conversion process. Such tools help standardize forms across different data sources and ultimately prepare the information for analytics or storage in the databases.
In short, utilizing technological tools, businesses can quickly and accurately perform the conversion of unstructured data into a processed version.
2. Use AI-driven Intelligent Document Processing
The continuous advancement in artificial intelligence has transformed almost every field and process. One of them includes Intelligent Document Processing. It can be an excellent option for converting unstructured data into a processable format.
This is because intelligent document processing utilizes a mixture of AI, NLP, and ML to effectively understand and interpret the information the given document contains.
For example, an IDP solution like the one by ComIDP can efficiently understand images, documents, invoices, bank statements, etc. And then extract all of their entities individually, giving you the option to both edit and copy.
Source: https://www.compdf.com/demo/idp/document-extraction
It even provides companies with the “Custom Extract” option. Using this, you can only extract specific entities or information from the given image or documents.
So, it’s time to get the most out of your unstructured data. Process documents, emails, bank statements, etc. through an intelligent document processing system, and get processable data within seconds with 100% accuracy and quickness.
3. Implement Data Tagging & Annotation Techniques
This is yet another smart way through which businesses convert unstructured data into a processable format. Unstructured data often lacks the labeling or framework, both of which are essential for processing information easily.
Fortunately, both data tagging and annotation can prove really handy in this regard. The technique involves simply labeling new raw data, such as text, images, etc., with metadata that ultimately tells the system/tool what exactly the content means and how it should be interpreted.
Let’s say you have textual data; then its tags can include:
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Entities: names, dates, locations, etc.
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Sentiment tags: indicate tone, i.e., positive, negative, or neutral
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Intent classification
This sort of tagging helps the machine learning models to effectively recognize the pattern for unstructured data for quick and accurate conversions. Numerous tools, such as SuperAnnotate, offer an easy solution for both manual and automated tagging workflows.
Source: https://www.superannotate.com/
Remember, there are also cases available where businesses hire and develop in-house annotation teams to ensure accuracy and domain specificity in the conversion process.
So, these are three of the smart ways that can be adapted for quickly converting unstructured data into a processable version.
Wrapping Up
Businesses produce a bunch of unstructured data on a daily basis. If this data is converted into a processable version, it will not only optimize the decision-making process but will also ensure operational efficiency.
There are numerous ways available for converting unstructured data into a processable format. This blog post has discussed three of the smart ones in detail; hopefully, you will find them useful and effective.