public Archives | Datafloq https://datafloq.com/tag/public/ Data and Technology Insights Thu, 11 May 2023 08:58:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://datafloq.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/cropped-favicon-32x32.png public Archives | Datafloq https://datafloq.com/tag/public/ 32 32 Why Digital Health Will Need Big Data to Support Its Infrastructure https://datafloq.com/read/why-digital-health-will-need-big-data/ Wed, 30 Oct 2019 16:11:23 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/why-digital-health-will-need-big-data/ Healthcare IT leaders must lead the charge to deploy big data analyses across the continuum of community medical services. Rapidly expanding medical needs and a whirlwind of technological innovations has […]

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Healthcare IT leaders must lead the charge to deploy big data analyses across the continuum of community medical services.

Rapidly expanding medical needs and a whirlwind of technological innovations has created a mass of data that no healthcare organization can ever hope to manage manually, according to the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). Resultantly, a growing number of organizations recognize big data systems as a solution for maintaining information infrastructure.

By compelling lawmakers to consider informatics when making decisions, IT leaders can ensure that the medical field meets goals for deploying big data technologies and improving community health outcomes.

How Care Providers Use Big Data to Improve Public Health

One example of how organizations use big data to improve public health outcomes is the United States Department of Veterans Affair's deployment of analytics to improve treatment outcomes and well-being for veterans.

In 2018, nearly 5 million veterans received VA disability. The information in their medical records can provide healthcare organizations with a wealth of data that can help improve the emotional and physical well-being of their fellow veterans. To do just that, the VA partnered with Alphabet to develop technological innovations that predict the likeliness of illness and injuries among veterans.

For many veterans, it's a challenge to maintain their physical and emotional health after service. Resultantly, the VA has conducted many studies researching this unfortunate phenomenon in the hopes of improving the quality of life for American vets.

One such program addresses suicide among veterans. Researchers estimate that 20 veterans commit suicide every day. Resultantly, the VA launched the REACH VET Program to address the needs of at-risk veterans.

The program leverages the vast wealth of veteran healthcare-related information maintained by the VA. Using advanced analytics, the agency reviews historical data to forecast the potential future actions of program members as it pertains to suicide risk. By identifying patient health information, the REACH VET program performs suicide interventions with a high percentage of successful outcomes.

The Promise of Better Healthcare With Big Data

In India, the mHealth program is producing phenomenal results for the population. Most lower-income individuals in the region possess cell phones. Resultantly, cell phones are the most accessible, cost-effective resource for data collection among low-income groups.

Consumer cell phones in India have become a strategic tool for promoting improved health outcomes among at-risk groups in the region. Care providers there use cell phones to collect various data and perform other health-related tasks, such as:

  • Epidemiologic surveillance
  • Health surveys
  • Patient monitoring
  • Public health awareness promotion

As a result, public agencies have been able to successfully leverage mHealth technologies and practices to digitize the delivery of many initiatives to improve the quality of life for many low-income individuals.

For instance, officials have been able to monitor overall community health and forecast the ongoing pharmaceutical needs of specific groups. By monitoring mHealth data, officials can also stay informed about common diseases that might run rampant if left unchecked.

When officials understand how diseases spread among the population, they can deploy effective interventions. Furthermore, they can use that information to spread awareness about public health threats. Also, public agencies can use technology to expand their influence and reach populations that are typically difficult to access due to geographic barriers.

Challenges Lie Ahead

The healthcare informatics field is in a period of radical transformation. Currently, there is a whirlwind of legislative, governance and operational changes afoot in the field. As a result, consumer and institutional stakeholders express concern over how to protect the privacy and rights of patients.

One point of view is that a wealth of information enables health care vendors and service providers to deliver highly personalized offerings. However, not all consumers welcome the idea of revealing sensitive medical information, even if it is anonymized. For now, the ethics of health care information as it applies to the latest innovations to emerge is still a vast gray area.

Healthcare leaders are still learning how to mitigate the risks involved in managing sensitive patient information. Nevertheless, the analysis of patient information is essential for empowering healthcare providers to make data-informed decisions.

For now, organizations struggle to find a balance between privacy and innovation. Some healthcare IT thought-leaders promote the idea of keeping identifiable information firewalled and only allowing anonymized data to travel to off-premise servers.

Continuous patient health information monitoring and analysis enables service providers to deliver improved treatment outcomes. What's more, data-informed public health leaders can execute interventions to prevent illnesses from spreading among the population.

The benefits of healthcare informatics are glaringly apparent. Ultimately, the more data that care providers can gather and analyze, the better equipped they are to develop highly effective interventions.

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Why Continued Development of AI Will Rely on Public Opinion and Perception https://datafloq.com/read/continued-development-ai-rely-public-opinion/ Thu, 04 Jan 2018 04:05:10 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/continued-development-ai-rely-public-opinion/ At the end of October, 2017, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia raised quite a few eyebrows by becoming the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a robot. […]

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At the end of October, 2017, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia raised quite a few eyebrows by becoming the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a robot. Business Insider reports that this empty-eyed humanoid is named Sophia, and was produced by Hanson Robotics. You can watch her full presentation at the Future Investment Initiative here, with moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin leading the conversation.

During the presentation, Sorkin alludes to the public's uneasy stance on AI. Sophia replies: “You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system.”

Sorkin's (and the public's) uneasiness are not necessarily unwarranted. In March, 2016, Sophia was already making headlines for an interview in which she stated OK. I will destroy humans. However, Sophia's inference that the moderator's perception, as well as the perception of the public at large, has been tainted by popular culture is something that we need to take into account as well.

While it's important to take great precautions in the face of great power, it's also easy to add to an alarmist echo chamber when it comes to things that we don't understand. Currently, there isn't really an AI powerful enough to take over the world or destroy all humans Sophia is basically just a larger, humanoid version of an Amazon Echo, or the embodiment of virtual assistant Siri. Unfortunately, AI will likely always be hamstrung as long as people are both stuck in the uncanny valley or think the technology is a danger, whether it actually is or not. The continued development of AI and expert systems is beginning to rely more on public opinion than most realize.

Should We Be Afraid of AI?

O'Reilly Media founder, Tim O'Reilly, spoke with Business Insider on why we shouldn't be scared of AI, stating that our algorithmic systems are a little bit like the genies in Arabian mythology. We ask them to do something but if we don't express the wish quite right, they misinterpret it and give us unexpected and often alarming results.

What O'Reilly is saying, essentially, is that instead of being afraid of AI, we should be afraid of ourselves. This is because AI often represents the biases of their programmers if they replicate them at all, as seen in the 2016 Tay chatbot debacle where twitter turned an AI racist . What's interesting is that inherently we, the users, seem to know this and what's worse, is that whether AI becomes malicious on its own or simply adopts the maliciousness inherent in the people around it, we know that we should worry anyway.

A perfect example of this in action comes from a digital agency group called SYZYGY, who found that people don't want to be marketed to by AI without prior knowledge. More accurately, 79 percent of Americans believe that it should be illegal for AI apps such as social media bots and virtual assistants to conceal their digital identities and deceive users into thinking they're human. This Blade Runner rule highlights a couple of things, including that the public feels strongly about AI, especially when they know it's programmed to sell them things (or otherwise control or influence them in some way). This isn't because they're afraid of the intentions of the AI, but because they're afraid of the intentions of the people controlling the AI.

AI Is Here, But Definitely Needs Some Work

Artificial intelligence in the form of machine learning is already here. The iPhone X's specs list facial mapping and Face ID as new security features and the primary way by which users unlock their phones. By projecting and analyzing 30,000 projection points across a user's face, a map is creating by a weak form of AI and there are stronger forms of this tech out there even still.

Intuit's Firm of the Future blog lists chatbots as one of the six trends most impacting social media marketing, alongside influencer marketing and live/stories. This is interesting, considering artificially intelligent robots would seem so much more advanced than your average live video or connected marketer. However, the trend of inclusivity in all three is what Beerud Sheth, writing for MarTechSeries, might call elements of conversational marketing, lending to a customer's conversational experience. He explains that customers expect brands to not only be reachable 24/7, but to be responsive and provide a personal experience along with a solution. This is driving marketers toward bot adoption, which is in turn fueling the fears that give rise to things like the Blade Runner rule.

Unfortunately for marketers, chatbots are currently more bot than they are chat, unable to intuit very well, and unable to understand emotional cues. Neil Davidson of HeyHuman argues that solving this problem is at the heart of AI's advancement. New software is being developed to imbue AI with emotional intelligence, a quality that's been increasingly valued in the human workplace as well as in nurses and administrators in the medical field.

Its ability to understand human feelings and emotional input means AI can learn from information to provide human-like responses, writes Davidson. While the applications for EI have, to date, been largely within the medical field, there's little doubt the commercial applications for advertisers are hugely significant. As these become more apparent, there's little doubt funding for this technology will rise exponentially.

Weighing Perception Against Function

While AI's widespread use is currently limited to its functions as a chatbot, its potential extends far beyond that. The Hartford's SmallBiz Ahead blog has an article titled How Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Small Business Can Save the Day , in which they list five major things an outsourced virtual assistant can do. These include blog post writing, social media management, app management and operation, database building, and general tasks one may dislike. Now, imagine instead of outsourcing these tasks to another human, you could simply deploy software that could do the exact same things. Once the general public sees the extent of AI's potential fulfilled, they may put aside deep-seeded fears of the unknown.

This balance is already being tested with self-driving cars, which catch negative headlines any time one of them is involved in an accident whether the crash is attributable to human error or not. Of course, comparing an expert system limited to driving to full-fledged AI is comparing apples to oranges, but this is where the public's perception of AI in all of its forms will begin and continue to be woven.

Indeed, there are instances in which AI chatbots have been received well, and may have even been preferred over humans. On an AI system that's been design to guide patients with less than a year to live, Dr. Michael Paasche-Orlow of Boston Medical Center told CNBC that the system was actually well received.

“It turns out that patients were very happy to talk with a computer about it, he said. They were very explicit in telling us, ‘The doctor never asked me about these things.'”

These positive cases of AI usage will need to become more prevalent if we want to see accelerated adoption of the technology. We've been conditioned for decades to fear AI by depictions of HAL 9000 and Skynet terminators, and those images won't be dismissed easily. One slip-up by an expert system could bring down ill-written and misunderstood legislation against the entire industry, stunting the growth and development of the technology for years to come. While it may take time for AI to catch on in a primarily positive light, the cases of truly helpful deployment will add up, and the public will likely decide they'd rather live with AI than without it.

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Chief Data & Analytics Officer Public Sector 2017 https://datafloq.com/meet/chief-data-analytics-officer-public-sector-2017/ Mon, 01 May 2017 22:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/meet/chief-data-analytics-officer-public-sector-2017/ Leveraging Data & Analytics as a Strategic Asset in the Australian Public Service Corinium Global Intelligence is proud to announce the inaugural Chief Data and Analytical Officer Public Sector.' As […]

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Leveraging Data & Analytics as a Strategic Asset in the Australian Public Service

Corinium Global Intelligence is proud to announce the inaugural Chief Data and Analytical Officer Public Sector.'

As part of Corinium's Global Series, the Chief Data & Analytics Officer Public Sector brings together 100+ of the most senior data and analytics leaders in the Australian Public Service to share best practice and assess the most critical challenges and opportunities in data and analytics.'

Key themes:'

The latest update on the Key Whole of Government (WofG) digital transformation initiatives by The Hon Angus Taylor MP'

  • UK case study – The UK's Community Insight tool
    how housing organisations are tailoring services based on data
  • USA case study: ‘The Chief Data & Analytics Officer role: ‘the crucial first 90 days
  • The Department of Immigration & Border Protection's case study: ‘focus on data as a strategic asset and prospective data analytics reforms
  • The ABS ‘big data‘ directions project'
    clearing the path towards greater efficiency & data integrity
  • Open data – a strategic asset for government to extract powerful insights and deliver better services to citizens
  • The Chief Data & Analytics Officer role in Government: ‘Data Champions and their role in driving the data analytics agenda
  • What's new? The most innovative analytical and reporting strategies to extract real value from big data
  • Talent'
    getting the right people to drive the data management strategy
  • Data sharing: ‘Addressing the challenge of sharing customer information across government agencies without identifying the customer
  • Data Governance: ‘The road to Digital Continuity 2020 – A WofG approach to governance and managing information as an asset
  • Risk – identifying & mitigating the risks of open data
  • Talent acquisition & workforce capability: ‘Strategies for attracting analytical professionals into public sector roles
  • Building a data-driven culture: breaking down silos, consistent data management & improved decision making

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INTERPOL World 2017 https://datafloq.com/meet/interpol-world-2017/ Mon, 03 Jul 2017 22:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/meet/interpol-world-2017/ The security landscape is evolving with the advancement of technologies. ‘Yet, technology alone cannot be the only solution to counter technological risk and threats. A strategic response has to be […]

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The security landscape is evolving with the advancement of technologies. ‘Yet, technology alone cannot be the only solution to counter technological risk and threats. A strategic response has to be taken into account to fight transnational organized crime. A conscientious effort from the law enforcement agency, businesses and citizens, is necessary to protect ourselves, our assets and our property.'

The mandate of INTERPOL World, a global exhibition and congress platform, encapsulates the vision of a safer world through using innovations and engaging government, organizations, and strategic think tanks in a multi-stakeholder approach.'

The second edition of INTERPOL World congress will happen from 4 to 6 July while the trade exhibition will take place from 5 to 7 July 2017 at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.'

INTERPOL World 2017 is your chance to showcase your new technologies, equipment, tools and solutions to over 10,000 public security professionals and commercial buyers from around the world, who will convene in Singapore to discuss resolutions to face future security challenges.'

Over 300 international suppliers and manufacturers, with thousands of latest innovative solutions for public security, cybersecurity, perimeter security and more will find and forge mutually beneficial alliances leading to faster and more accurate responses to global security threats.'

Visit www.interpol-world.com

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The 5G Revolution Is Coming What to Know Before It’s Here https://datafloq.com/read/the-5g-revolution-is-coming-what-to-know/ Wed, 07 Dec 2016 10:01:43 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/the-5g-revolution-is-coming-what-to-know/ It doesnt seem long ago when telecom companies were prepping their networks for the next wireless standard of the time 4G. Here we are on the eve of 5G. About 100 […]

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What to Know Before It’s Here
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It doesnt seem long ago when telecom companies were prepping their networks for the next wireless standard of the time 4G. Here we are on the eve of 5G. About 100 telecom operators around the world have already started preparing for the adoption of 5G technology.

This information comes from the Ericsson Mobility Report, which also estimates there will be 28 billion connected devices around the world by 2021. Nearly 16 billion of that total will be IoT-enabled devices. If the estimates are correct, we will certainly need the new wireless format to keep up. The report also claims that standardization for 5G has already begun, and if things remain on schedule, it will be completed by 2020. But just what is 5G? What does it mean for the rest of us?

5G Will Change the Game

The G in 4G and 5G if you havent already figured it out stands for generation. In the early 1990s, when wireless phone technology first appeared, the first generation began. The second generation, or 2G, started when phones were able to send text messages between devices.

Eventually, telecom providers moved on to the third generation or 3G which allowed people to do just about anything with their phones, including calls, texting and even browsing the internet. The fourth generation enhanced those capabilities by providing faster wireless access and better connectivity which is why youre able to stream content via services like YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu no matter where you are. LTE, or long-term evolution was added to the 4G moniker to indicate an even bigger boost in performance.

Finally, we have 5G, or the fifth generation. It will build upon the 4G LTE technology to significantly increase connection and browsing speeds. Data transfer speeds will increase, which means it wont take as long to share Ultra HD or 3D videos, HDR-quality photos and more.

With the emergence of so many new technologies 4K photos and videos are a great example it warrants a speed boost. Plus, it will provide even more support for all those internet-ready and IoT devices hitting the market.

What Will 5G Offer That 4G Doesnt?

Lets break it down in laymans terms and be honest. There are a lot of things that mobile phones even smartphones struggle with when it comes to wireless connections.

For example, gaming requires low latency to reduce network and input lag. Thats why most gamers prefer to use a LAN or wired connection for their consoles and PCs this includes laptops. The current 4G technology just doesnt offer the kind of low latency needed to not only play games accurately but also to enjoy them. Its frustrating when a connection drops or experiences performance issues.

However, 5G will allow the kind of high-performance connections needed to enjoy gaming on mobile networks. Were, of course, talking about console-quality gaming here and not mobile gaming.

But this also applies to IoT equipment, smart tech and more. Connected cars need access to an ultra-low latency network to handle communications. Even a minor hiccup could cause serious issues, like an accident. Simply put, 5G will offer the kind of speed and capacity gains needed to handle these activities.

When Will 5G Be Ready?

Currently, 5G is still immature. Wireless companies are still in the testing and prototype stages of working with the technology. But were getting closer to widespread adoption. Vendors have cited a goal of 2020, which is when they plan to roll it out to consumers.

Samsung recently completed several prototype tests using 5G. Other carriers are preparing to start 5G trials this year if they havent already. Its not just wireless providers experimenting with the technology, either. Researchers from New York University were able to get 5G millimeter waves to travel more than 10 kilometers.

What Benefits Will 5G Deliver?

According to Verizon execs, 5G will provide about 50 times the throughput of current 4G LTE, latency in the single milliseconds. In turn, it will be able to handle exponentially more Internet-connected devices which should accommodate the [] explosion of the Internet of Everything.

Wow! About 50 times the speed and performance!

That will significantly impact your experience with wireless networks. Imagine finally being able to do some of the things you couldnt do before on a smartphone.

Furthermore, over 80% of all executives believe 5G technology will have positive effects on their business, in multiple areas. This includes areas like customer support, worker productivity, and even product quality.

For example, lets take a look at wearables. Some more advanced wearables offer a standalone experience, tapping into mobile wireless networks. But they use 3G and 4G technology, so theres a certain amount of latency or delay in how they operate. Something like the Kigo which is a child-friendly GPS tracker would benefit from 5G access. Parents could almost instantly ping the location of the device and find their child.

Smart cars and self-driving vehicles will also need a near-instant connection to function properly, as we discussed above.

What Will 5G Innovation Mean for the World?

Lets forget the business side of things for a moment and consider what 5G technology will do for the world at large.

Imagine how connected you are now how fast you can access the internet, send a text message or video call family. 5G will deliver up to 50 times the performance of 4G LTE, which means those experiences and those connections will all be seamless.

Youll be able to access Ultra-HD quality content on the go, with little to no latency. The implications of such a thing are beyond our imagining, at least right now.

Hopefully, by 2020, well know for sure.

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What to Know Before It’s Here
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10 Myths about Cloud Computing https://datafloq.com/read/10-myths-about-cloud-computing/ Fri, 19 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/10-myths-about-cloud-computing/ Cloud is recognized as facilitating speed-to-market and for its ability to drive business agility. This is because cloud supports rapid experimentation and innovation by allowing companies to quickly try and […]

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Cloud is recognized as facilitating speed-to-market and for its ability to drive business agility. This is because cloud supports rapid experimentation and innovation by allowing companies to quickly try and even adopt new solutions without significant up-front costs. The Cloud can be a highly agile wrapper around different systems, different behavior and bringing it all together in an engagement cycle. By changing the way people interact with technology, cloud enables new forms of consumer engagement, expand collaboration across the value chain and bring innovation to companies core business models.

Gartner listed cloud computing as one of the top technologys investment in the next 5 years as showing on the chart below:

top technology investments

Types of Cloud Computing

  • Public Cloud: In Public Cloud the computing infrastructure is hosted by the cloud vendor at the vendors premises. The customer has no visibility and control over where the computing infrastructure is hosted. The computing infrastructure is shared between any organizations.
  • Private Cloud: The computing infrastructure is dedicated to a particular organization and not shared with other organizations. Private Clouds are more expensive and more secure when compared to Public Clouds. Private Cloud is what used to be called your company network.
  • Hybrid Cloud: Organizations may host critical applications on Private Clouds and applications with relatively less security concerns on the Public Cloud. The usage of both Private and Public Clouds together is called Hybrid Cloud.

With all this in mind and the reality of cloud computing impacting businesses in all aspects and at all levels, there are myths surrounding cloud computing and clouding the reality of the cloud:

Myth # 1: It is Only for Tech Companies

Nothing is far from the truth as this myth, any company in the horizontal and vertical markets can use it including no matter what is the size.

Myth # 2: Security is the Biggest Risk

Security measures used by well-known cloud vendors are often better than their clients; the cloud vendors have the resources and the skills to keep it up to date.

Myth # 3: Everything Works Better in the Cloud

Except old applications that were designed to run on dedicated servers, often difficult to run on the cloud.

Myth # 4: It is Always Cheaper to Run in the Cloud

It is not always cheaper to run on the cloud, but it can often be more cost efficient. Cloud works best for variable demands and workloads, where you have high demand at times but lower demand at others.

Myth # 5: Cloud is Harmful to the Environment

Theres no question that data centers consume huge amounts of energy. But when businesses move from on-site facilities to consolidated cloud data centers, it saves energy and cuts pollution.

Myth # 6: Cloud Costs Jobs

Instead of taking jobs it is in fact creating them, industry predictions suggesting that by the end of 2015 cloud computing will have created more than 13 million jobs worldwide. It required a host of cloud-savvy experts whose skills and knowledge will maintain and strengthen growth and development.

Myth # 7: Migrating Into the Cloud is More Hassle than it is Worth

If you work in partnership with a trusted and experienced hosting provider its a seamlessly process. It can all happen very quickly with minimal downtime.

Myth # 8: Cloud Is Not for Mission-Critical Use

Cloud computing can be used for all aspect of business including Mission-Critical applications for many reasons including less downtime, and auto backup.

Myth # 9: Cloud is Virtualization

Virtualization is software that manipulates hardware, while cloud computing refers to a service that results from that manipulation.

Myth # 10: Ill be Caught by Vendor lock in

This is true only to the same extent of on-premise, traditional software. There would be nothing to stop businesses building their own applications and deal with more than one vendor.

The Promise of Cloud Computing

Understanding what is next for cloud computing is crucial for businesses at all levels because the cloud isnt just for techies anymore. Managers are responding to the real opportunities that the cloud offers to develop new business models, forge closer ties with customers, and use the expertise of employees and partners. From a technology that was initially adopted for efficiency and cost savings, the cloud has emerged into a powerhouse of innovation throughout organizations. Cloud computing is here to stay and the numbers are supporting that:

  • 75% of decision makers use the cloud in their business
  • 94% of IT managers reported improvements in security with the adoption of the cloud
  • 75% of business reported improvements in the availability in their services
  • 91% of SMB used cloud services to satisfy compliance requirements
  • Spending on Cloud Computing never slow down, with a projected 183 Billion in 2015

Continuous Industry Transformation
The next-generation of cloud computing will deliver value to the business faster by automating everything from request to deployment and configuration and do so up and down the stack and across the entire infrastructure. Cloud computing is part of the Third Platform according to IDC along with Mobility, Big Data Analytics and Social business, that explains why many businesses adopted the cloud to create innovative industry solutions. Now cloud computing is moving the bar higher with the Internet of Things (IoT) which is built by the cloud for the cloud.

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Why You Need To Understand The Limitations Of Big Data https://datafloq.com/read/need-understand-limitations-big-data/ Thu, 28 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/need-understand-limitations-big-data/ As is often the case with over-hyped buzzwords, big datas reputation in the enterprise sector tends to be more than a little inflated. To hear some people talk about it, […]

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As is often the case with over-hyped buzzwords, big datas reputation in the enterprise sector tends to be more than a little inflated. To hear some people talk about it, its the holy grail of analytics, an impossibly powerful business tool thatll put you centuries ahead of the competition. While itd be pretty awesome if that were true, reality is a touch more nuanced.

Fact is, if you simply dive in to big data without understanding how it works – and without a clear idea of what it cant do, then youre setting yourself up for significant disappointment not to mention a ton of wasted capital.

So, lets talk about that – lets see if we cant dispel some of the mysticism around big data analytics.

The Public Mystery That Is Big Data

Today, we live in a world of data, writes software engineer David Aurbach. Twenty years ago, we didnt. Just as computing power has exponentially increased over the last 50 years, doubling every two years or so, the amount of computational data has been doubling at a similar rate. 90% of all the data in human history was created in the last two years.

An impressive figure, isnt it? In the face of such statistics, its difficult not to find big data at least a little impressive; difficult not to be at least slightly wowed by it all. Maybe even a little intimidated, in light of social engineering experiments like the one Facebook carried out on its users.

That controversial experiment caused a lot of folks to look at big data in a new light. Suddenly, we began to wonder if every like, post, and click was being measured. Suddenly, we began to fret that we were being tracked. Suddenly, we began to worry that somewhere, someone was painting a complete, absolute picture of who we were as a person based solely on what we do – all without our informed consent, of course.

For his part, Aurbach isnt entirely convinced big datas such a big deal – and to drive home exactly why, he points to a similar study unveiled in July by OkCupid.

Unlike Facebook, which published its findings in a humorless academic paper, OKCupid treated its results with some serious skepticism, raising the question: What is big data actually good for? Does it even work?

Good question.

Aurbach continues on to say that, though were collecting countless petabytes of data, we arent actually doing all that much with it. Even the NSA, with its massive Utah Data Center, doesnt really have the tools to properly analyze everything. In short, most of our big data isnt even being used – and one questions if it necessarily can be used.

Understanding The Big Data Hype Cycle: Why Were Headed For The Trough

Aurbach next points to something known as the hype cycle, a term that basically outlines the path taken by every new technology as society warms up to it. Basically, the whole thing starts with an innovation trigger – something that gets everyone super excited about the new piece of tech. That trigger is then followed by ever-increasing expectations as hype reaches a fever pitch, helped along in large part by tons of people throwing around buzzwords they only partially understand.

Then, just as expectations reach a peak, suddenly everyone starts to understand what the technology really does. More accurately, they start to understand what it doesnt do. People start to grow frustrated; they wonder why theres no killer app – why hasnt this incredible, ground-breaking new tech yielded concrete results yet?

This is known as the Trough of Disillusionment – and Big Data is teetering right at the edge of it.

The bad news is that plenty of the current big data pundits are in for some pretty serious disappointment. The good news is that this disappointment will soon lead to a more complete understanding of exactly what big data is. With that understanding, the technologies surrounding this data will start to mature.

In other words, well start to see real, actionable results.

So What Can Big Data ACTUALLY Do?

Alright. Now that you folks have a decent understanding of big data – and the fact that its an overhyped technology – what can it actually do for your business? It may not be the Holy Grail of analytics, but its still extremely valuable, right?

Yes and no. The first thing you need to understand about big data is that, without the proper talent in your organization – without people who are trained in data science – youre going to have an extremely difficult time pulling anything of value from it. In addition, it isnt a cure-all; if theres something broken about your business, pulling in and analyzing a ton of big data isnt going to fix that.

If fifty years of artificial intelligence research have taught us anything, its that every problem is different, writes Gary Marcus of The New Yorker. there are no universally applicable solutions. An algorithm that is good at chess isnt going to be much help parsing sentences, and one that parses sentences isnt going to be much help playing chess. A faster computer will be better than a slower computer at both, but solving problems will often (though not always) require a fair amount of what some researchers call domain knowledgespecific information about particular problems, often gathered painstakingly by experts.

What Marcus writes there is one of the most enduring truths about data analytics – and really, about any other field. You cannot simply expect insights from big data to come to you on their own. You need to work to pull out anything worthwhile; and any data you examine needs to be looked at in context.

As for what big data can do to an organization that understands how to work with it?

One word: knowledge. At its core, thats what big data is all about. It equips you with the capacity to make more intelligent decisions, with the knowhow to streamline and optimize your business, and with the ability to make your employees work better than ever before. By studying the information gathered about your business, its competitors, its customers, and employees; you can put yourself well ahead of the competition – but only if you know exactly what youre looking for.

Go in blind, without a clear goal, and big data is little more than digital soup.

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Enigma Helps Businesses to Use Public Data https://datafloq.com/read/big-data-startup-review-enigma/ Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/big-data-startup-review-enigma/ Company Enigma Address 520 Broadway, 11th Floor New York, New York 10012 United States of America Founders Hicham Oudghiri, Marc DaCosta & Jeremy Bronfman Founded January 2013 Funding $ 5.6 […]

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Company Enigma
Address 520 Broadway, 11th Floor New York, New York 10012 United States of America
Founders Hicham Oudghiri, Marc DaCosta & Jeremy Bronfman
Founded January 2013
Funding $ 5.6 million
Employees 18
Website www.Enigma.io/
Rating 7 bits

Enigma is a Big Data startup that helps businesses to use Public Data. They are creating a large collection of public data that is produced by universities, companies, governments and organizations. The data sets are made available to subscribers who can use it to create new insights when combining it with their own data.

So far they have stored billions of public records about healthcare, energy, transportation and healthcare. Companies can access the data through their web-based user interface, which also offers a few data analytics tools, or via their API. Users can access the data via different plans, including a free, but limited, plan.

Enigma allows users to enter a query and receive multiple references back linked to that query, which subsequently can be exported if required. Enigma uses a proprietary data storage infrastructure in order to centralize all the data they have and link it to other, siloed, databases on the web.

It was founded in beginning of 2013 to provide access to public data for new insights. They have received several awards including winning the TechCrunch Disrupt NY Startup Battlefield in 2013. They have received over $ 5 million in funding and they are constantly updating and evolving their datasets.

Public data is extremely important for organisations that want to derive extra insights from their own data. Having such a large source of public data sets combined can be very powerful. We therefore give Enigma a 7 bits rating.

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How Public Data is Creating a New Business Intelligence Market https://datafloq.com/read/public-data-creating-business-intelligence-market/ Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/public-data-creating-business-intelligence-market/ As far as buzzwords go, Big Data is out and open data is in. Or at least thats what a glance at the headline seems to say. Across the country, […]

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As far as buzzwords go, Big Data is out and open data is in. Or at least thats what a glance at the headline seems to say. Across the country, states and cities are opening up their data streams to the public. The mayor of Chattanooga, TN, for instance, recently ordered the citys government data be open for public use. Los Angeles did the same thing. In both cases, the cities are opening up previously hard-to-access information, from 911 response times, to the number of bike lanes, to the types of permits issued. Alongside these local efforts, the federal governments Data.gov project – launched in 2009 – is finally emerging as a real resource. It now boasts over 105,000 data sets from over 227 federal agencies.

All of which is helping to create a new market that traffics in these new sources of open data. Take CivicData, for example. The site is run by Accela, an enterprise software provider for government agencies, and aims to help such agencies more easily disseminate data sets. It also provides an entry point for citizens or private developers looking to dive into public zoning, infrastructure, or transport data, just to name a few possibilities. The dashboard and visualization tools enable easy data exploration, potentially removing the need for IT involvement on simple analytics projects.

Private companies, for their part, seem more than willing to use public data to drive their business decisions. The Open Data 500 tracks what private companies are using which federal data. It details a plethora of healthcare, energy, and housing companies that harness open data sets from federal agencies to improve their own operations. Some of the most popular data comes from agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Commerce.

Startup Enigma meanwhile hopes to help private citizens and companies find public data that, while technically open, might not be easy to access. They bill themselves as the Google of public data. Their database contains not only formal data sets, but also findings from published reports, and under-the-radar information such as daily weather reports, property tax assessments, and liquor licenses.

Exactly what companies are using this data for isnt entirely clear yet. However, its easy to imagine companies using it to better target potential customers, or for improving the algorithms used to select new business locations. Its also unclear exactly how comfortable citizens will be with their local governments making such data entirely available, for free. Much of the information being released online has always been public, albeit in more limited forms (checking permits or city records might have entailed a visit to an archive building). For people who know where to look, that information is now just a few clicks away.

As more cities publish local government data online, its likely to give rise to both state-level analytics services, and hyper-focused startups. Forward thinking business intelligence software companies may introduce plug-ins designed to pull data directly from sites such as Enigma and CivicData. The possibilities of such a connected network are nearly endless.

Image: Wiki Commons

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An Introduction Into The Legal Implications Of Big Data https://datafloq.com/read/introduction-legal-implications-big-data/ Wed, 07 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000 https://datafloq.com/read/introduction-legal-implications-big-data/ Every sector created massive amounts of data that can be analysed for insights. Combining different data sets to create all kinds of information that can be used in a variety […]

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Every sector created massive amounts of data that can be analysed for insights. Combining different data sets to create all kinds of information that can be used in a variety of use cases. Ranging from bioinformatics (offering the best treatments to patients based on all available data), to fraud detection (especially relevant for governments and financial services industries) to for example using IT Operations Analytics to increase cyber security. The possibilities are almost endless, but there are also quite a few legal implications in using all that data.

In this video partner Alexander Duisberg from Bird Bird, talks about the most important legal aspects of big data and lists his top tips for businesses, as well as public sector, wishing to exploit the huge potential of data assets. He talks among others about data ownership as a concept (no jurisdiction has a fully developed concept of data ownership) as well as the privacy aspect of data (know what data you own and how it affects your customers privacy). Organisations should also consider the licensing implications when buying or selling data as well as whether data is really anonymous. It is an interesting video that provides some clear points from a legal perspective that organisations have to think of when developing a Big Data Strategy.

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