How to Understand Big Data

We are in the age of Big Data. As more people and things connect through the internet, we have more data than ever before. Government institutions, businesses, and individuals alike have access to innumerable pieces of information to collect, analyzed and put to use. Steven Scott Statistician believes the concept of Big data is continuing to evolve as it continues to drive many waves of digital transformation.

What is Big Data?

Big Data started with the rise of the Internet, computers and Technology capable of capturing information from the physical world and converting it into digital data. The resulting tsunami of data we have generated since, gave rise to Big Data.

How to Understand Big Data

Today, we leave digital footprints with almost everything we do. Data is generated whenever we use the Internet, turn on our navigation systems, or communicate with friends and family on social media platforms. Moreover, the amount of data generated by machines is growing tremendously. Data is generated when we use artificial intelligence apps on our smart devices.

Big Data in action

These ginormous streams of data in the forms of text, photographs, voice and video, is the foundation of Big Data and we can now use it in ways barely conceivable a few years ago. Big Data projects are helping to transform a wide range of industries.

For instance, the health care and insurance industries use Big Data to derive models used to predict costs, propensity for disease, drug interactions and treatments. The automotive industry collects large amounts of data from navigation systems, cars, oil quality and fuel consumption. The agricultural sector benefits from data analysis which can help to maximize crop yields, optimize the use of equipment and machines and minimize pollutants into the ecosystem.

Businesses, both large and small collect data to help them better understand consumption patterns, sales, ordering, stock and returns. The businesses collect this data and analyze it to understand how it all ties into conversion, marketing campaigns, and ad delivery. Overall Big Data makes our everyday lives easier and more convenient. Thanks to Big Data, getting the best deals on flights, crowdsourcing a ride or shopping online are all easier.

How it works

Big Data helps us to learn by comparing data points so we can make more informed decisions. The process is automated, making use of advanced analytics technology to build models based on data collected. Big Data projects often involve the use of innovative analytics involving machine learning and artificial intelligence. Big Data analytics leverage technology to run numerous simulations to spot patterns or insights that can help solve a specific problem.

The future of Big Data

Big Data is already changing how we do things, gain insight and make decisions and it will continue to do so in the future. We are going to have access to a greater amount of data with time, and technology will become more capable and reliable. Although Big Data raises several concerns such as Data Privacy and Data security, which must be addressed, there is no better time to take advantage of Big Data.