The Information Tsunami: Big Data

Chaos vs. Meaning

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The explosion of Big Data and Massive Data refers, as it might be easy to predict, to a quantitative aspect that characterizes the science of information in this first quarter of the millennium. If we take all the data generated in the world since the beginnings of history until 2000, the same amount of data is now generated every few minutes. In fact, over 90% of the data in the world was created in the last couple of years.

That said, it is important to recognize that "more" not necessarily means "better", and the fact that we have in our company, business, or pharmaceutical lab thousands of megabytes of data does not necessarily mean that our performance will become immediately more effective. The value lies in the amount of relevant, cohesive and logical information that we can derive from the colossal dataset.

Size is certainly a component of the phenomenon of Big Data, but this concept is also often used to designate other factor: the Organization of the massive information. In the past we relied primarily on structured data-bases, the type that can be put in tables and forms, such as sales transactions by customer, region, etc. Instead, today, we have the ability to use and analyze a variety of data, including written text, spoken words and biometrics, photographs and videos.

Now, to make efficient use of the Big Data we need tools that help extract hidden signals in all that tangle and chaotic data. It is within this framework that companies are gradually moving away from internal databases (intranets) to turn towards the analysis systems hosted on cloud computing (see my article "What Does Cloud Computing Mean" for details).

The information management with a cloud-based infrastructure allows businesses and institutions to generate their analyzes and strategies by putting their questions first and then consider those data sets that may be relevant. With this new method, the analysis doesn't need to be limited to narrow data sets, which are the product of controlled spreadsheets and databases prefabricated and in which only the values change, while any other dynamism factor remains out of the equation [i].

The massive data applications are limitless. Big Data is important for all companies of any size, in any industry.

Applications

• Companies use large volumes of data to better understand their customers through transactions recorded in your own business, but also using data from social networks, mobile applications, etc.

• The companies optimize their procurement processes by analyzing weather and traffic routes in the supply chain.

• Big Data is used in the health sector to find new cures for cancer, to optimize treatment and even predict diseases before they reach the physical symptoms appear.

• Big Data is used to analyze and improve the performance of people (in sports, at home or at work), where sensor data on computers and portable devices can be combined with video analysis for conclusions They were previously impossible to predict.

• Police forces and security agencies use large volumes of data to prevent cyber attacks, detect credit card fraud, terrorism role and even predict the criminal activity.

• Big Data is used to improve our homes, cities and countries by, for example, optimization of heating or lighting, traffic flow in our cities, or the production and consumption of energy. [ii]

[i] "Big Data Possibilities." What Is Big Data: Overview, Video, Use Cases and Articles by Bernard Marr. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.
[ii] “Diamonds Or Coal: What Is In Your Data?” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.