Big Data is structured or unstructured large amounts of data. They are processed with special automated tools to be used for statistics, analysis, predictions and decision making.
Which industries are already using Big Data?
- Public administration. Exploration and analysis helps governments make decisions in areas such as health, employment, economic regulation, crime and security, emergency response;
- Industry. The implementation of tools helps to increase the transparency of industrial processes and introduce “predictive production”, which allows more accurately predicting the demand for products and, accordingly, planning the use of resources;
- Medicine. The huge amount of data collected by medical institutions and various electronic devices (fitness bracelets, etc.) opens up fundamentally new opportunities for the healthcare industry. It helps to find new drugs, make more accurate diagnoses, select effective treatment, and fight pandemics;
- Retail. The development of network and e-commerce is impossible to imagine without Big Data-based solutions – this is how stores personalize assortment and delivery;
- Internet of Things. The Internet of Things are inextricably linked. Industrial and household appliances connected to the Internet of Things collect a huge amount of data, based on the analysis of which the operation of these devices is subsequently regulated;
- Real estate market. Developers use Big Data technologies to collect and analyze the entire array of information, and then present the most interesting options to the user. Already now, the future buyer can see the house he likes without the seller;
- Sport. Football clubs use it to select the most promising players and develop an effective strategy for each opponent.
- Agriculture.
- An IoT solution from the field of so-called precision farming is when special weather stations that are in the fields collect data (temperature, humidity) with the help of sensors and send them to the IoT platform using transmitting GSM radio modules and hire ai developers. It uses algorithms to process the information collected from the sensors and build a high-precision hourly weather forecast.
What are the challenges and prospects of Big Data?
Main problems:
- It is not homogeneous, so it is difficult to process it for statistical inference in big data services company. The more parameters are required for forecasting, the more errors accumulate during the analysis;
- Working with large amounts of data online requires enormous computing power. These resources are very expensive and are currently only available to large corporations;
- Storing and processing Big Data is associated with increased vulnerability to cyber attacks and all kinds of leaks. A prime example is the Facebook profile scandals;
- The collection of big data is often associated with a privacy issue: not everyone wants their every action to be monitored and passed on to third parties. Characters from the podcast What Has Changed explain why privacy is no longer on the web and the tech giants know everything about us;
- Big data is used for their own purposes not only by corporations, but also by politicians: for example, to influence elections.
Pros and prospects:
- It is helping to solve global problems – for example, fighting a pandemic, finding cures for cancer and preventing an environmental crisis;
- Big Data is a good tool for creating smart cities and solving transport problems;
- In the near future, big data will become the main tool for decision-making – from networked businesses to entire states and international organizations.
