Big data analytics will be a lot more exciting than cloud computing

It’s quite shocking when you think about it. Hardly anyone was even talking about big data five years ago.

But now as big data becomes the new IT buzzword, droves of press releases latch on to the term like it’s the only subject that will keep the public relations industry alive, while us journalists begin to regard the topic with dread.

And you can’t really blame us. We remain swamped by the cloud computing ‘revolution’, writing story after story about companies that have finally taken to the cloud or IT providers that have released cloud products.

We’ve covered research into the size and value of the cloud market, investigated the extent to which firms are for prepared for the cloud, and had a good, long discussion about all the possible cloud computing challenges you can think of.

But maybe we shouldn’t be so hasty. Before we’ve dismissed big data as the next cloud, let’s just lend it a moment’s thought, and consider whether this technology has a silver lining.

Big data analytics is not just a new type of computing architecture that can cut costs and drive efficiencies, but a set of technologies that have the potential to change society so that it resembles sci-fi films.

Interactions between individuals, businesses and the government can become faster and more intelligent with the analysis of big data. Yes, some of this is scary, especially to those individuals who worry over privacy. But there is also a lot of good the technology can offer.

One of the oft-cited examples is law enforcement agencies using big data analytics to research crime hotspots and combat crimes of a specific nature.

This has advanced in the US with an initiative called Crimespotting, and in the UK police force with Crime Maps. Both programmes aggregate crime reports and allow the public to track instances of crimes in their neighbourhoods.

Meanwhile, another example often used to highlight benefits of big data is that of medical researchers soon being able to scan data from public health records, medical textbooks, clinical studies and individuals’ genomes to pinpoint successful treatments or to spot diseases before they emerge.

This is in fact not so far off. Europe’s largest university hospital, Charite University of Medicine Berlin (PDF) gives every doctor and senior manager ready access to data about operations, scheduling, patient care, and in some cases, patient records. This allows operations to be planned according to the skills on wards at a particular time, reducing the waiting times of all patients.

By 2017, every cancer patient at the hospital will have their human genome mapped and incorporated into the system, ensuring they are given the best treatment available to them.

The list of the good big data analytics can bring society is pretty much endless.

Another use of the technology would be to prevent cities from becoming too congested with traffic.

Mobile phone signals could be monitored so traffic controllers are alerted when there are too many cars flooding the roads in a particular area, and these controllers could alert other drivers, suggesting they take alternative routes.

There are then the benefits the technology offers businesses. It is already becoming commonplace for financial institutions and insurance industries to analyse large amounts of data in real-time for risk management purposes, but there is also the opportunity for retailers and other types of businesses to use analytics technology to better target their customers.

Examples of these businesses are hard to find at the moment. Not only is the technology to crunch big data expensive, but businesses also do not want to overstep the privacy mark, particularly in the UK where the data privacy debate can rage so fierce.

The UK population remains protective of their data, even though they increasingly choose to share their data with loyalty card providers to save money, or with social networks for their own personal amusement.

Just think of the hoo-hah that’s caused whenever Facebook or Google updates their privacy policies.

However individuals’ mindsets are likely to change as they increasingly see benefits from sharing their data with businesses. 

For example, Nike+ allows runners to log exactly where they run, rest and stop, and then share this information with their fellow enthusiasts online.

Tens of thousands of running routes are now held by Nike, and I bet the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Doughnuts would probably be very interested in getting hold of this data.

Okay, you may not want to be lured by doughnuts and lattes when you’re trying hard to shift some pounds, and I am half-joking with this example, but the point is our data can be used by businesses to make our easier. Just think about how often we share our location with mapping applications to help us find out where to go.