I love Big Data. And it’s not because it requires scalable storage and fast speeds at economical price points, all of which SanDisk® provides in our Big Data Flash solution. I love Big Data because of what it can do for you, me and our world. Big Data is more than volume, variety and velocity. Big Data is about value. And this year, my Valentine is Big Data (after my wife, of course). Here’s why.
1. Healthcare Reinvented, for Everyone
Recently, Big Data helped to discover a genetic cause for Schizophrenia. As more ways to collect and analyze data are implemented in hospitals and across medical care, scientist will be able to find common denominators and new research directions to curing disease like cancer or predicting epidemics.
And then IoT gets into the picture, too. For the first time, non-intrusive devices can enable health care to operate in real-time disease management. Patients can now measure vitals through wearables, giving health care professionals access to monitoring symptoms, ongoing therapy or even predict our next heart attack, stroke, or wave of depression. As internet access becomes omnipresent, just imagine the impact digital, continuous health care can offer remote and underserved communities.
2. More Growth, Less Waste
Cities are heart and global engines of economy and growth. But they are also responsible for 75 percent of global CO2 emissions. China’s poor air quality keeps reaching our headlines as smog has crippled its capital and shuts down cities of millions of people – suspending schools, airports and snarling traffic, let alone decreasing life expectancy of its residents.
To build sustainable cities we will depend on Big Data to help improve citizens’ quality of life while reducing the environmental impact of the very systems they depend on—transport systems, resource consumption, waste management, etc.—data will be used to prioritize the delivery of these services.
3. Crime – There’s Safety in Numbers
We are far away from a reality like the one described in the film “Minority Report,” but collecting and analyzing the elements that drive and enable crime can ultimately help prevent crimes from happening. Sounds too optimistic? It’s already happening today. A new analytics tool allows the Police Department of Fort Lauderdale to pull data from traffic, transportation, permits, social media and 911 call records and integrates advanced data analysis into operational strategies—with great success.
4. Future Education
The future depends on its creators. Big Data is already on campuses. It’s not so much about predicting one’s success, but rather helping to shed light in places where there previously wasn’t. Why are some students dropping out? Why are some teachers more successful than others? What could be a better track to help students graduate and fulfill themselves?
Already today, Big Data can flag students who may have made educational decisions based on wrong assessment, or because they might be trying to please their parents. As we move forward, Big Data will help educators take advantage of more effective methodologies, flag learning challenges earlier in the process, and ultimately help education systems better support students’ needs. Our future depends on their success.
Big Data for the Ones We Love
Big Data is changing our world, and at SanDisk we’re proud to help fuel this change. With our InfiniFlash™ System, and work with partners like Tegile and Nexenta, we’re enabling organizations to analyze massive data sets in real time, opening new possibilities to help make this world a better one and to solve some of the most profound challenges, big and small. Perhaps by helping to relieve some of our most taxing barriers we’ll find that we have more time to spend with the ones we love – happy Valentine’s Day!
