A third of parents say they’d use productivity data, including voice analytics and wearable tech on their kids if it could improve their future chances of success.They'd also use demographic and psychometric data to help their children forge better relationships, according to a new study.

1,000 UK adults participated in the study, conducted by business intelligence specialists Xoomworks, to see how far parents would go to improve the career prospects, social lives and health of their kids in later life.

Improved problem-solving and improved speech were the two most popular goals for study participants.

Parents were presented with a selection of established marketing, productivity and performance data techniques, including activity tracking, speech analysis and propensity modelling and asked which they’d use on their kids to improve their chances of future success.
The study found that:

-    1 in 10 parents would use demographic data, such as information about crime and property prices, to help them select their children’s friends.

-    1 in 5 would use activity monitoring data to improve the health and fitness of their children.

-    14% would take a data-driven approach to increasing their children’s capacity for empathy and compassion.

-    A quarter of parents would use data analytics to help improve their children’s problem-solving abilities.
The study also revealed that 22% of parents would use voice analytics - a marketing tool typically used to measure the mood, sentiment and preferences of a customer - to improve how their children spoke.

Parents in Birmingham and the West Midlands were the most open to this technique, with 28% saying they’d be happy to use voice analytics on their children if it helped them speak better.
Most desired outcomes from childhood productivity hacks

1.    Better problem-solving ability
2.    Improved speech and language
3.    Better hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness
4.    Improved health and fitness
5.    More empathy and compassion
6.    More suitable friends

Nicolas Henry,  Director of Business Intelligence at Xoomworks believes the study reflects a growing general interest in data analytics.

“We’re increasingly more open to using data to optimise business processes. It lets us challenge assumptions and make smart decisions. So why not use it for parenting?

“Parenting is one of the hardest and most important jobs a person can do. At first, parents may feel a little uncomfortable using data as an aid, but we’re already using it to improve our health, fitness, productivity and in some cases, our love lives. Parenting could be the next area to benefit in a meaningful way from the use of big data.”

Case Study

Jon Boggiano is a 37-year-old entrepreneur and dad of three from Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s very comfortable employing data to help is “data driven” family achieve their goals.

“My younger two children have used wearable speech tracking devices for the past year. The devices track the amount of words the child hears, prompting adults to engage more with children where necessary.

“All of my children wear Fitbits.  It is a fun game for the family and our kids are outside a lot.  They routinely beat me on steps and it is also interesting to see the periods where they have many fewer steps.  For our son he usually fidgets more when he has had less time to spend being active.

“Third, we've used all sorts of analytic services like adaptive maths programs to improve academic performance.

“I have no ethical reservations really. The is just between my wife and I so I don't think it matters much.  We share pictures of our kids on Facebook which is way more public so

“I don't think tracking steps or words or sleep is a big deal.

“I’d consider using performance data in other ways too, for example to improve academic productivity.

“My son fights doing maths on written worksheets but he can get sucked into Khan Academy for an hour or two so. I will take anything that can help them instill better values and learn better.

Source URL - http://www.xoomworks.com/

Contact
Sean O'meara
[email protected]
London, UK
http://www.xoomworks.com/bi/