“Big Data” is much in the news today. What is it, and what is its significance to the business and medical establishments? Big Data refers to the vast amount of information generated daily, but more specifically to the challenges involved in processing, analyzing, and using the data.
Big Data is being generated from advances in technology including the adoption of large numbers of sensors and smart devices. Big data can be very beneficial in solving business problems, often providing solutions previously inaccessible. To do so can require visionary thinking and talent.
A large amount of Big Data being generated is semi-structured or unstructured data. Quite a bit of this data is lost due to an inability in knowing how to use it.
IBM has developed a platform that addresses this problem. Based on the open-source Hadoop software, this system simplifies, manages, coordinates, and analyzes big Data.
Evaluating Big Data has led to the evolution of a new profession, the Data Scientist, with high levels of both quantitative skills and technical ability.
Virtually all industries can find valuable uses for Big Data, including retail, financial services, manufacturing, government, advertising, media, and energy. Its application for medicine and healthcare will be the topic of my next blog.
Sources
Davenport, Thomas & Jill Dyche. Big Data in Big Companies. SAS Institute, May 2013.
http://www.sas.com/en_us/offers/sem/big-data-2274228/register.html?gclid=CNCH24zB6bgCFRGg4AodelgAgg
Zikopoulos,Paul, et al. Understanding Big Data: Analytics for Enterprise Class Hadoop and Streaming Data. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012.