What is big data?
Big Data refers to extremely large volumes of data that are hard to analyze using traditional techniques because there’s either a lot of it, it comes in lots of different varieties, or it is amassed too quickly to make sense of without the right tools.
Overall, Big Data is an evolving term that describes any voluminous amount of structures, semistructured and unstructured data that has the potential to be mined for information.
Why use Big Data?
Most organizations today use data analytic to make sense of Big Data, revealing patterns, trends, and associations to help them better understand their customers’ behaviour, and how they interact with their brand.
Increasingly, people are looking beyond Big Data and are now focused on how these large volumes of varieties of data can be applied to the Internet of Things, especially with the rise of Machine Learning and AI.
The importance of Big Data?
The digital age has led to an explosion of data, which is now regarded as a highly valuable asset, even more so than capital, workforce or raw materials, according to industry experts BITKOM in a new Big Data guide.
When this data is analyzed, Big Data technologies are also seen as incredibly valuable, which, according to BITKOM, is just as important from a business point of view.
Looking ahead, we expect the development of the Big Data market to accelerate. According to the 2017 Big Data vendor benchmark report by Experton Group, investments made in Big Data in Germany will increase to in excess of 3.7bn Euros, which represents an average annual growth rate of some 23%.
Examples of Big Data
Big Data’s industry-specific importance:
- Energy production: Becoming less reliant on nuclear energy requires smart energy networks.
- Traffic management: Intelligent traffic management systems are needed to protect the environment.
- Healthcare: Intelligent healthcare systems ensure a high-value delivery of care.
Did you know?
Just about every word in the English language beginning with “V” has been used to describe the “bigness” of Big Data (volume, variety, velocity, veracity, validity, value, variability, venue, vocabulary, vagueness…).
However, interestingly, Gartner published Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report in which the term Big Data no longer makes an appearance, superseded now by “Internet of Things.”
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