Big Data – The Informational Big Bang

What is Big Data?

Fundamentally , Big Data is the continuous and exponential proliferation of vasts amounts of anomalous information and intricate metrics produced by mankind .

Entombed in the ever growing digital time capsule dubbed “Big Data” lies all of our collective knowledge, hopes, dreams, fears, ideas, and wisdom. It houses our every thought, in the form of videos, photos, documents, almanacs , social media blurbs, computer logs, etc. Each bit is digitized, compiled, and stored safely away. Some information is referenced immediately while the greater majority is tucked away for future analysis.

From the changing of the tides to the erosion of the Grand Canyon, we rely on seemingly miniscule measurements recorded each day to provide us with an educated insight into how tomorrow’s world might look and feel. Likewise, we depend on our intellectual and emotional compositions to teach and learn from one another, validate our sense of self expression, and catalog precise moments in time on a scale so colossal it’s almost unfathomable. These metrics are a looking Glass into the future; the data we create, our very essence.

This understanding, however, only leads to more questions. Is Big Data dangerous, how much information is actually crammed into those two smaller than average words, what is the impact of Big Data on society, and what is the future of Big Data?

Is Big Data dangerous?

Big Data truly is the Zeit Geist from which no future generation will ever find refuge. The term has actually been around for several decades, though the effects have been felt for far longer. One prominent data scientist most notably changed the world through the use of Big Data analysis with just a few simple and widely available data analytics tools . The insights harvested from his efforts fundamentally and irrefutably transformed the world as we know it. Galileo, using a telescope, pen, and paper, was able to document and measure the journey of 4 moons around Jupiter thereby validating Copernicus' theory that man was not resting at the center of the universe. So, is Big Data dangerous? More than likely, the answer will vary depending on to whom the question is asked.

How much data are we talking about?

To fully understand the scope of data this clever little catchphrase tries to convey, it is first necessary to realize that there is seemingly an infinite amount of sources spawning Big Data's expansion. Social media, news outlets, and the internet all seem obvious and familiar, but those are merely a 2D representation of the much more detail laden face glaring back at us from cyberspace. Add in all the data received from sources such as business apps, machine and computer logs, global sensors, RFID tags, various governmental organizations , global healthcare systems, scientific and statistical data, the financial sector… (the list goes on) and only then might a ghostly outline of comprehension manifest a mere glimpse into the true velocity, variety, and volume of information our civilization generates on a daily basis. According to IBM, 2.5 Quintillion bytes of data are produced everyday. To simplify the math, that is 2.5 million Terabytes; enough information to fill 532 million standard DVD's.

What is Big Data’s impact on society?

As we move beyond the revolution, Big data has quickly become a cornerstone on which a business is solidly built. In fact, MIT Professor Erik Brynjolfsson stated that of the 179 publicly traded companies he studied, those that already utilize Big Data to drive their decision making processes reported about a 5% gain in both profitability and productivity. No doubt CEO's and Executives will increasingly be chosen based on their ability to quickly interpret and make sound data driven decisions as opposed to those who rely solely on their intuition as a guiding light. In turn, according to The New York Times, the demand for managers and working professionals with sharply honed analytical skills will continue to outpace the need for even those who would typically satisfy every bullet point of their traditional job descriptions. IDC has pegged the Big Data and analytics technology and services markets to have a CAGR of 11.7% through 2020.

What is the future of Big Data?

The total scope and potential of Big Data’s impact is still unknown, however, one certainty distinguishes itself above all others. The impact will reach far beyond business and profits. In a journal essay, Rob Kitchin speculates that "Big Data, coupled with new data analytics, challenges established epistemologies across the sciences, social sciences and humanities, and assesses the extent to which they are engendering paradigm shifts across multiple disciplines”. Undoubtedly, Big Data's ability to reengineer established methodologies in areas such as academia, healthcare and government lends credibility to idea that this revolution has all the hallmarks of a disruptive innovation and, as such, will surely change the lenses through which we see our world.