Is Big Data Changing The World For The Worse?

Big Data are extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions. Since being discovered the 1950s, Big Data has become far speedier and more efficient, in a way that businesses can identify insights for immediate decisions, which gives organisations a competitive edge that they may not have had before. Big data is very important to organisations as it helps them harness their data and use it to identify new opportunities. Today, every 2 days we are creating as much data as we did from the beginning of time until 2000. So, by 2020, the amount of digital information available will have grown from 5 zettabytes today to 50 zettabytes. However, with such rapid growth and reliance on big data analytics, comes challenges that may hinder the importance of big data. 

So how does it work? Big data works in a way such that, the more you know about a particular situation, the more reliably you can gain new insights and predictions about what will happen in the future. From this, new relationships begin to emerge, which enable us to learn and make smarter decisions. The establishment of these new relationships can be done through a process that involves building models, running mock-ups, altering the value of the data points and monitoring how it can impact the results. Big Data projects use analytics involving artificial intelligence and machine learning to make sense of this data. In this way, computers can be taught to identify what this data represents so they can learn to spot patterns far quicker and more reliably than humans. 

Through analysing this data, companies are able to accurately identify and predict what segments of customers will want to buy their products and when. Outside of the business world, Big Data is helping transform the world in a number of other ways include: Improving healthcare, predicting and responding to natural and man-made disasters, and preventing crime.

With the unprecedented insights and opportunities across healthcare, financial and government industries, we are becoming more reliant on the use of big data. However, it also raises concerns and questions that must be addressed. These issues are concerned with data privacy, security and discrimination. The big data we generate contains a lot of information about our personal lives, most of which we have the right to keep private. However, with the convenience that Big Data apps such as iCloud offer, we must begin to strike a balance between the amount of personal data we divulge and this accessibility. When we click and agree to our data being used, it is important to question whether or not that organisation will keep your data safe. Due to the increase in size of Big Data and the web of connected devices, this can expose more of our data to security breaches. While Big Data helps businesses become better marketers and service providers, it can also allow them to discriminate, which can lead to more difficult livelihoods for people who have fewer resources and access to information.

With the amount of data only ever growing, this will change the way we live at an unprecedented rate. For businesses the ability to leverage Big Data is going to become increasingly important in the years to come, as those view this data as a strategic asset will survive and thrive. Those who ignore this revolution risk being left behind. 

-Written by Annabel Moyle

**PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS FOR A UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT**