The modern society is surrounded by technological trends, which change each other rapidly. One of those trends is the development of the Big Data. What is that? Who produces and analyzes the Big Data? How is it applied to a life of random people? We will find the answer to all those and even more questions in this article. In the world of applied science — Big Data is the complex of technologies that are aimed at performing three kinds of operations. First, process big amount of data, in comparison to a “standard” one. Second, be able to proceed, analyze and apply information that flows very fast. Third, should be able to work with both structured and unstructured data.
Defining the place, where Big Data is applied — we can think about Hadron Collider that collects a huge amount of material using sensors. After that, scientists analyze collected data and work on the resolution of global problems. Some may claim that this technology is not applicable to a life of simple people, but it is closer than you can imagine.
Social networks
Every person is generating dozens of Mbs of data every minute. We are using social networks, search systems, discount systems in the shops, text messaging and many other features, that provide information to the “Big Computer”. For example, instead of sorting the news by the date of posting, Facebook shows the most popular ones. In the same way, analyzing your activity, you receive suggestions on posts which may be interesting to you or friends you may know. This is just one of the examples of the way Big Data influences our daily life.
The Internet of Things
One more example is the Internet of Things. This topic was described in details in one of the previous articles, and that is also a part of the Big Data revolution. Now the development of it is in the early stages, but scientists predict that we will use the features of the “smart life” on daily basis. Your Smart Home will warm up or cool down before you come back from work. Smart Fridge will analyze the amount of stuff left and order a bottle of beer for you every Friday, and every Saturday police will follow your car and check the percentage of the alcohol in your blood. The self-driving car will wait for you after work and drive you through your favorite shops, meanwhile, you will be getting advertising regarding discounts in those shops.
What is the Internet of Things and how it is already transforming our lives?
Time should pass before it happens, while today Big Data is used in entertainment and marketing.
Future Forecasting
The Big Data also could be used for predicting the results of the sports competitions, like the Olympic Games. In 2012, scientists performed the simulation of the Olympic Games, and stated that the US would get 108 medals, in fact, 104 medals were received by the USA during non-simulated competition. As already mentioned, Big Data analyses a huge amount of information coming from different sources. In practice, this technology may prevent an epidemic of illness in one or other regions, taking into account Google searches and confidential information recorded in hospitals.
GPS Navigation and prevention of Traffic jams
The system of “Smart traffic” is used in the big cities, like London. Sensors in the traffic lights evaluate traffic tension and change the light color according to the need. In this way, traffic jams are reduced and citizens feel more comfortable traveling to/from work during rush hours. In the same way, when you use the GPS navigation, you are forwarded to the streets where traffic tension is lower.
Bank-issued credits and insurance services
Have you ever visited a bank in order to take a loan or apply for credit card? If yes — you probably know that it takes some time, while bank assistants are checking your personality, credibility and financial situation. That is one more example of the Big Data applications in practice. Banks have access to information which helps to secure money and give loans only to trusted people. The same solution is used by insurance providers, as the insurance rate is different for every individual. For instance, buying an insurance for a car, the insuring company analyzes your driving experience, incidents, amount of fines, etc. The Big Data provides a lot of advantages to different kinds of companies, at the same time decreasing frauds.
Summing up
The Big Data is a strong analyzing system that is slowly coming to all aspects of our daily life. People do not even realize how much information the “Big Computer” knows about every single person. Nowadays, only 5% of the information is available for analyzing, but this number is increasing rapidly. Does not matter if we want it or not — the Big Data is coming into our lives. Today, only 5% of the available information can be analyzed by Big Data, so the most interesting is awaiting us in the future.
Originally published at https://inoxoft.com on January 19, 2018.
