Big Data. It’s a buzzword uttered by both industry experts
and business professionals; a marketing term and industry description bandied
about by techies and creative types alike. Everyone acknowledges how important
it is and its unlimited potential in affecting how decisions are made in
various areas of our lives.
However, that’s all it has actually been thus far: potential. Big Data gives us the
ability to gather and access data online, regardless of whether that
information comes from open sources or behind layers of cyber-security. But we
have yet to maximise this data and harness it to its fullest capacity.
That will change in the years to come. Many say we are at a
tipping point. The ubiquity of mobile devices, cloud computing, and digital
technology permeating every aspect of our lives will affect how all these
volumes of information will be used and processed.
Here’s how 2015 will prove to be big data’s break out year.
1. The Democratisation of Big Data
Big data will soon cease to be the exclusive domain of
tech-adept users and early adopters. For the most part, only those with
technical know-how or special access have the ability to consume and utilise
big data to their advantage. This will change as more and more companies,
businesses, and organisations move their data to a public cloud environment,
thereby making information readily available to and easily accessible even to
the so-called non-techie crowd. Whereas the usual practice is to ask an IT
person to retrieve reports from data warehouses, such gatekeepers will soon
become unnecessary.
2. More Digital Learning
It just makes so much sense to use all that available data
towards furthering the cause of good education. It’s already a widely used
medium of instruction as it is, from how-to YouTube videos to websites
dedicated to teaching everything from crafts to literature to business finance
up to Massive Open Online Courses. Educational technology lives and breathes
data, and influential decision makers are starting to put in more resources
into digital learning. Expect more improvements in this sector as improvements
are implemented not just in pushing educational content, but in changing how
and when learners and instructors grade and assist students in learning their
course materials.
3. Personalised Medicine
Imagine a world where doctors prescribe medicines that’s
been custom made to fit your specific level of activity, health status, and personal
lifestyle. Your customised drugs might even be so specialised as to respond to
your genome or personal DNA structure. Experts say that this scenario can
happen in the not so distant future, thanks to big data analytics. Generic
treatments and one-size-fits-all solutions could be irrelevant once the
technology to make personalised medicine possible becomes available for all.
4. The Internet of
Things (IoT) and Big Data
Our increasing dependence on all things mobile and digital
is undeniable. With the advent of advanced interconnectivity devices and its
widespread usage, the ability to not just access big data, but to also
effectively utilise it for specific purposes comes into the picture. Tech
experts are finding new ways and creating new technologies that will combine
high volume data tools with less dense databases. They need to find out how
they can merge different forms of big data, with its seemingly endless variety
and velocity, to analyse and respond to specific business needs. However they
go about doing this, it will change how we interact with big data in innovative
and responsive ways.
5. Mobile
Accessibility
The smartphone, iPad or Phablet you have in your hand will
soon give you the ability to access high level business intelligence tools that
only a few years ago required the services of IT gatekeepers or the expertise
of data mavens. The Analytics App for the iPad is already being offered in the
market, as well as the Databox for Enterprise, a mobile business intelligence
platform that’s been created with decision makers rather than tech-savvy
experts in mind.
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