7 Ways Big Data Will Change the World

You can’t open up a newspaper these days without noticing how Big Data changing the world. Here’s seven ways we see the world becoming a better, more informed, more connected place because of Big Data.

Imagine if every time you complained about certain symptoms, your doctor could see the case history on every single patient IN THE ENTIRE WORLD who had experienced those same symptoms. What if your doctor could know exactly how every one of those patients had responded to various treatments and could track your progress as compared to all the rest? The medical community already knows the benefits of Big Data and is jumping all over it.

2. Improving HealthThe computing power of big data analytics enables us to decode entire DNA strings in minutes and will allow us to find new cures and better understand and predict disease patterns. Just think of 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. The clinical trials of the future won’t be limited by small sample sizes but could potentially include everyone! Big data techniques are already being used to monitor babies in a specialist premature and sick baby unit. By recording and analyzing every heart beat and breathing pattern of every baby, the unit was able to develop algorithms that can now predict infections 24 hours before any physical symptoms appear. That way, the team can intervene early and save fragile babies when every hour counts.3. Urban Planning One of the most exciting articles I have read about the potential of Big Data was this one  about tracking the movements of people and how that could impact urban planning. A MIT professor recently found that a small number of Boston-area drivers contribute disproportionately to traffic jams and gridlock. Imagine if urban planners could predict where traffic was going to be bad on a given day and devise ways to incentive drivers to go a different direction.

Cities are using data discovery techniques to examine the myriad of ways small changes can impact a big urban centers. The Urban Center for Computational Data talks about computer models helping cities to figure out how things like a new bus line might impact crime, employment, and energy usage in parts of a city.

4. Entertainment

Hollywood producers, studio executives, and major film financiers are increasingly turning to analytics to guide them in the creation of screenplays. Vinny Bruzzese, a former statistician and the “reigning mad scientist of Hollywood,” is majorly cashing in on the available pool of existing data pulled from hundreds of years of movies to point out both minute and major details that could lead to a film’s epic success or disappointing flop.

5. Consumer Products 

Everyone talks about how Corporate America is going gaga over Big Data and the possibilities for better understanding consumer behavior. The tremendous rise in online shopping has created piles of data to better understand what consumers want and how they shop. It even allows companies to customize their pricing models based on who is shopping and when they want to buy. But, the real leap is known as The Internet of Things. It is a term that refers to everyday objects collecting data about us. Just about every product we use is slowly being adapted to act “smarter” and learn what we want. It isn’t just obvious stuff; like our cell phones tracking where we are at any given moment or the smart meter on your house knowing when you are around to control the temperature and energy; it is far more subtle. How about a toothbrush that knows how and when you brush your teeth? What if your car insurance company could change your rates by tracking exactly where and how you drive? We are rapidly reaching the day where everything we own will be some kind of device for collecting data on us, data that will be used to customize all kinds of products so they will work better for us.

6. Improving Sports

Most elite sports have now embraced big data analytics. We have the IBM SlamTracker tool for Tennis tournaments, we use video analytics that 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 (via smart phones and cloud servers) on our game and how to improve it. Many elite sports team also track athletes outside of the sporting environment – using smart technology to track nutrition and sleep, as well as social media conversations to monitor emotional wellbeing.

7. Improving Security and Law Enforcement

Big data is applied heavily in improving security and enabling law enforcement. I am sure you are aware of the revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. uses big data analytics to foil terrorist plots (and maybe spy on us). Others use big data techniques to detect and prevent cyber attacks. Police forces use big data tools to catch criminals and even predict criminal activity and credit card companies use big data use it to detect fraudulent transactions.

 

Source: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/

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