Being the nerd that I am, nothing tickles me quite like data moving around magically (unless it's a bacon chocolate bar or the sound of my kid & hubby laughing). By now, you've all heard me say that data and our ability to manage, manipulate, visualize, and generally tame it will be the greatest challenge for our sector in the coming decade.

So I was delighted to get to SXSWi and discover QR Codes.

Think of a QR Code as a bar code on steroids. The acronym stands for "Quick Response" Code and the great thing about them is that they can store almost any kind of data -- and are meant to be read by mobile phones, so no special hardware is required to use them.

At SXSWi, every name badge has a QR Code printed on it with the individual's contact information. If you meet someone you like and have reader software installed on your phone, you can scan the badge, and add that info to your address book.

I'm really excited to see this in play for more than networking. Already, QR codes are used for inventory tracking all over the world, something that's highly important to our sector.

I can imagine a dozen other uses, especially for social service agencies. Because the data is highly transportable -- you can print a QR code on ANYTHING -- it would be a great way for clients to take information about a set of services received to another service provider so that a complete record of care can be amassed.

I also think there's the potential for lots of fun with QR codes. Get ready for some QR Code Scavenger Hunts at the 2010 NTC. 

Want to get ready now? Download a reader to your phone. You can practice on the QR Code in this post. (David Krumlauf sent it to me while I was writing this!) If you want to have more fun, make your own QR Codes!