When do you know that the so-called ‘data era’ is really a thing? When both The Economist and Science think it is big enough to give it a cover? During the last years the term ‘Big Data’ has been everywhere. Obama won the elections thanks to Big Data and even Brad Pitt was nominated for an Oscar for his role as the manager of a baseball team that hires the ultimate data geek to help them win.
Powered by both the reduction of computational and storage costs and the evolution of the required software tools to manage it (the Apache Hadoop platform, the MapReduce paradigm, the almost infinite number of NoSQL solutions,...), Big Data is the brand new keyword of the tech industry. If you are not Big, you are out. However, many people don’t really get it: Big Data should not be measured in terms of size, but in terms of the value it adds to your product.
You can measure user interaction in your site to the last pixel, but if that information is not translated into real knowledge and leveraged as improvements in the site, it is worth nothing. This data approach is/should be indeed a four step process:
- You gather all the data that you can. Facebook API GET
- Data is transformed/translated/trasmuted into information. Information adds a new layer of meaning to data. Víctor Penela likes Mumford and Sons (band)
- All this information is merged and mixed, from this and from other sources, into a something more meaningful, lets call it knowledge. Víctor Penela likes Mumford and Sons. Víctor lives in Madrid. Mumford and Sons are playing in Madrid in a couple of weeks. He might* be interested in going to that show. * Knowledge always comes with some grade of uncertainty.
- Finally, all that process is a good show off, but it is worthless if you don’t put knowledge into action. “Hey Víctor, did you know Mumford and Sons are playing in Madrid in a couple of week? You can buy some tickets here!”
Next… why the data geek is your new Mad Men.
