Big Data-Transforming the Way We Live, Work and Think

By Stephen Ko, Business Development Director-Asia Pacific, HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS

Stephen Ko, Business Development Director-Asia Pacific, HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS

We all know that change is constant, and that businesses, individuals and governments must innovate to keep pace with global and local trends. The world is more interconnected and shifting faster than ever.

" Efficiently viewing and analyzing data from numerous public safety systems, such as video surveillance cameras and gunshot detectors, requires a new generation of innovative tools"

This is all about data. The rise of the Internet of Things and connected devices means that data is everywhere. Ultimately, the value of big data comes in gaining insight from it through analytics. Though analytics solutions are not new, with big data we now have a much wider array of data sources that can drive and contribute to these insights. New technologies like Hadoop, object stores and in-memory databases, along with increased economies of scale, have enabled organizations to process unprecedented volumes and varieties of data, providing new levels of insight much faster than ever before.

Changing how we live

The world’s population has doubled over the last 50 years and will reach about 8.8 billion people by 2030, with a clear majority (6.3 billion) of those living in urban areas by 2050.

According to a report by market research firm Navigant Research, investment in smart city technology in Asia Pacific will total US$63.4 billion by 2023, with more than 100 smart cities planned in India alone.

This and other significant demographic changes will create challenges in healthcare, opportunities for smart city planning, sustainable energy, improved transportation solutions and other infrastructure innovations.

Efficiently viewing and analyzing data from numerous public safety systems, such as video surveillance cameras and gunshot detectors, requires a new generation of innovative tools. These tools run on top of existing, disparate systems and have the power to extend their reach and usefulness while providing deep insights. They simplify the user experience by putting data from your disparate systems on a common platform and associating metadata with millions of evidence clips that can be retrieved for analysis.

Changing how we work

In commercial sectors, businesses are seeking to remain competitive by constantly learning from insights to improve production mechanisms, deliver innovative products and services, and reduce time to market.

In consumer sectors, businesses can offer better products and services by learning from human and social behavior, buying and spending patterns, living patterns, and affinity for products and services.

Regardless of sector, companies require one platform for all data that can deliver performance, scalability and reliability, providing the right foundation for big data whether it is on-premise or in the cloud.

Changing how we think

From a business perspective data will not only be collected from the expected sources, like sales and manufacturing, but across all departments including call-centers, IT, R&D, marketing, operations and distribution. Insights will be gained from log-files, social media, sensor data and customer information. CXOs will be required to look at all areas of the business for useful data that can be tapped and used to create a full picture of successes and shortcomings.

In the near future, systems will be able to help predict where crimes are likely to occur, analyze the reasons for increases in traffic accidents and act proactively to avoid problems with critical infrastructure and more.

Through innovative technologies and total solutions for sustainable urban development, big data can help us to address critical global issues, improve business, and the lives of people around the world.