In previous articles, I mentioned the most important features and manifestations of the knowledge economy, which coincided with the major technological developments in the world, including the branching of this science, such as knowledge engineering, knowledge management, knowledge societies and knowledge cultivation, as well as other aspects, including cryptocurrencies, blockchain, the Internet of Things, augmented reality, artificial intelligence programs, nanotechnology, clean energy and big data technology, which is the subject of this article.
We can first know what ‘data’ means and what the difference between it and ‘information’ is, and what are its most important features. We find that the data is the raw image of information before sorting, arranging, and processing, and it cannot be utilized in its initial form before processing, whereas information is the data that has been processed, analysed, and interpreted, which can be used to develop different relationships between phenomena and decision-making.
Raw data can be divided into three types: structured data, organized in the form of tables or databases for processing, unstructured data, and the largest proportion of data generated daily by people from text writings, images, videos, messages and clicks on websites.
According to some references, big data is a set of data of sizes that exceed the capacity of programs commonly used to capture, manage, process, store and analyse data within an acceptable time-period, which is carried out by artificial intelligence programs. For example, it usually takes 10 years to decipher the human gene until the process is fully carried out; with big data technology, however, this process can be accomplished in one week, like in the Silwan Digital Sky Survey project.
This is a U.S. research project that aims to astronomically survey the sky using a giant telescope connected to sensors to collect data on star formation in the Milky Way, and when astronomical data collection began in 2000, more data was collected in its first few weeks than in the entire history of astronomy.
For another example, everyone is talking about the huge deal that resulted in the company’s purchase of popular software and WhatsApp. With big data technology, WhatsApp found to have more than 450 million users, 70% of whom are active, and more than 10 billion messages and about 400 million images were circulated daily, and, as of December 31st, 2013, the number of messages via WhatsApp reached 18 billion messages in a single day.
The term big data refers to a data set that is so large and complex that it becomes difficult to address using only one database management tool, or by using traditional data processing applications, including capture, duration, storage, research, participation, transportation, analysis, and visualization, allowing links that, for example. reveal “pivotal business trends and quality of search,” linking legal citations, combating crime, and determining the real-time data flow of traffic conditions.
In 2012, Gartner, the industry’s leading company, updated its definition of big data, which began in 2001, to read: “Big data is a high-volume, high-speed, or high-diversity information asset that requires new forms of processing to enhance decision-making, deep understanding and process improvement.”
Through this definition, big data technology can be said to provide a competitive advantage for organizations, if they are well utilized and analyzed, because they provide a deeper understanding of their customers and requirements, and this helps to make decisions within organizations more effectively, based on information extracted from customer databases.
Thus, by increasing efficiency and profitability and reducing losses, and by using big data analysis tools, it was able, according to important reports, for some sectors and institutions to effectively and efficiently use big data analysis techniques to save more than $300 million in annual surpluses from their annual budgets, two-thirds of those budgets, due to a 48% reduction in spending costs.
The use of big data does not depend on enterprises and businesses, but extends to many areas, including energy, education, health, and large scientific projects, most notably, the Human Genome Project (which provides a complete study of human genetic material) and contains 25,000 genes, which in turn contain 3 billion pairs of DNA-forming chemical rules.
The most important thing to conclude from this article is to say that big data technology is at the heart of the emerging industries provided by the knowledge economy as a tool of measurement, analysis, and research towards miraculous conclusions; if you will, it is the most important technology that humanity has reached throughout its history, and in the context of talking about the future of human functions in the era of automation, which I have touched on in previous articles, the job of a big data analyst is one of the most important functions that the future will provide for humans. And to talk the rest.
Author : Manahel Thabet
Published January 22, 2018
Al Bayan Newspaper
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