What is Big about Big Data

In present days, we often keep hearing about the IT buzzword Big Data. Everyone is talking about it. But many of us are not aware of what it actually is and how it is having a big (great) impact on our daily life. Some of the things are so big and have big implications in our life with or without our will that we must be aware of it. Some of the essentials explained here.

Size of Big data

Big data can be treated as huge amount of data. We generally talk about size of data in our personal computers and mobiles in terms of gigabytes(GB) but the normal size in big data is terabytes (1Terabyte=1024GB), petabytes (1 peta byte =1024  terabyte)  and even bigger size of  data.

Source of Big Data

The next question comes in mind is from where are we getting this data? Unknowingly we the common users of internet, search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc), mobile phones, various apps on our phones, social networking sites (Facebook , Twitter, Instagram etc) are generating this data. Our all actions are recorded by these applications. Some of common activities of an individual which provide big data are

1.      Search: Whichever site we visit and whatever we search.

2.      Age and Gender: We usually do not give this information but on the basis of our searches and browsing pattern it can be analyzed.

3.      Relationship: Based on the status and activities on social networking sites it can be predicted with accuracy.

4.      Travelling details: This is very easy to find for Android Users. Even the speed with which we are travelling is also recorded by our phones. And obviously our Home and Workplace address is also known to the apps on our mobiles.

5.      Item Purchased: If we are using credit or debit card for our shopping, the products which we have bought are known to the issuer bank.

6.      Area of interest: From the videos we watched at youtube, it is easy to find.

7.      Job satisfaction level or family life: By analyzing our likes at different social networking sites or groups we have joined, our intelligence level and our satisfaction level at our workplace and in our family can also be predicted.

8.      Financial status: If we are doing online transactions or net banking then even our user ids or passwords are also exposed to some of the applications installed on our systems or mobiles. 

Application of Big data

The above mentioned activities are then analyzed by using statistical and predictive tools for various purposes such as marketing, fraud detection, predictions, diagnosis etc. “No wonder one gets advertisements related to their searches.”

The following are some of the applications of big data analytics:

1.      To identify potential customers

The most publicized and biggest area of usage of big data today is analyzing customers buying habits, their behaviors and preferences. To get complete picture of the customers, companies are keen to expand their traditional data sets with social media data, browser logs as well as text analytics and sensor data.

2.      To identify business processes for optimization

This is another area where Big data is increasingly being used to optimize business processes. Merchants are optimizing their stock based on predictions generated from social media data, web search trends and weather forecasts.

3.       For Personal Quantification and Performance Optimization

These days, Big data is not just for companies and governments but also for all of us individually. The data generated from wearable devices such as smart watches or smart bracelets can be beneficial to us. 

4.       To Improve Healthcare and Public Health

The data analytics and computing power of big data enables us to decode entire DNA strings in minutes and will allow us to find new cures and better understand and predict disease patterns. It is unimaginable that what happens when all the individual data from smart watches and wearable devices can be used to apply it to millions of people and their various diseases. 

5.       To Improve Sports Performance

Big data analytics is being used to improve sports performance. IBM SlamTracker tool for tennis tournaments; video analytics to track the performance of every player in a football or baseball game, and sensor technology in sports equipment such as basket balls or golf clubs allows us to get feedback (using smart phones and cloud servers) on our game and how to improve it.

6.       To bring Improvement in Science and Research

Big data is also transforming new possibilities in the field of Science and research. For example, CERN, the Swiss nuclear physics lab with its Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. 

7.       To Optimize performance of Machines and other Devices

Machines and devices are becoming smarter and more autonomous with the help of big data analytics. Google’s self-driving car is an example of it.

8.       To Improve Security and enforcement of Law

This is one of the area which has improved drastically with Big data analytics. It is  being used to foil terrorist plots ,to detect and prevent cyber attacks, to catch criminals and even predict criminal activity.Credit card companies use big data to detect fraudulent transactions.

9.       To Improve and Optimize Cities and Countries

Big data also allows cities to optimize traffic flows based on real time traffic information as well as social media and weather data. 

10.   Financial Trading

Excessive use of big data analytics is done in High-Frequency Trading (HFT). Big data algorithms are used to make trading decisions. Majority of equity trading now takes place using data algorithms which increasingly take into account signals from social media networks and news websites to make, buy and sell decisions in split seconds.

These are some of the applications of big data.There are so many other applications of big data and there will be many new categories as the tools become more widespread.

Ms. Meenakshi Narula

HOD (IT)