  In the age of ever increasing demand for big data and data analytics, a
question of collecting the data becomes fundamental. What and how to collect
the data is essential as it has direct impact on decision making, system
operation and control. Specifically, we focus on the art of observing the world
by electronic devices such as sensors and meters that, in general, we call
monitors. We define five challenges to ensure effective and efficient
monitoring that still need a lot of research. Additionally, we illustrate each
challenge by example. Since reliance on big data and data analytics is
continuously increasing, these challenges will become ever more relevant to
save the world from flood of meaningless, dumb data, leading frequently to
false conclusions and wrong decisions whose impact may range from a minor
inconvenience to major disasters and even loss of lives.
