A New Benchmark in Benchmarking Big data and automation create opportunities and challenges

The first known use of the term benchmark was in 1826 during the planning of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which operated from 1831 to 1924. At the time, surveyors and engineers used benchmarks— typically physical markers such as stones or iron rods driven into the ground at known elevations—as reference points indicated by chiseled horizontal marks for measuring slopes and distances.