BIG DATA - Overview

This blog is a project for INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION with Professor Kiron Ravindran at IE Business School.  It has been created by the following IMBA (April '12) student group members (Nationality): Beatriz (Colombia), Matan (Israel), Jaime (Peru), Tom (USA), Denny (Germany) & Vikas (India).

With this project we want to communicate about "BIG DATA", an emerging technology and its application in business. In weekly blog posts we will compile articles about Big Data and give our opinions about this IT topic. The Blog will also be a way of sharing information about Big Data with other users interested in the subject. It will be updated weekly from today 12/04/2012 to the end of June 2012. 

So stay tuned and we look forward to reading your comments!

"LIKES!" That’s what we expect anxiously whenever we post a new picture on our Facebook accounts. Ever wonder how many such likes, comments or tags, on how many pictures or videos are saved and available for us and our friends to see every second, minute, day, month or even a year? And now think of all those 800 or so million users on Facebook thinking exactly the same way as you are right now. Well that’s Big data we are talking about, isn’t it?

When we, the mundane people are having a hard time comprehending the logic behind storing such massive amounts of data, it is worthwhile sparing a thought for establishments who need to do so in order to remain in business. Now, also imagine, what if the top modelling agencies of the world were willing to spend millions of dollars in order to scout the next Tyra Bank or Gisele Bundchen from the mediocre photographs on such social networking sites? What? Now it’s totally worth it?

Through this blog, we set out to explore the virtual worlds where our lives are stored in - Big Data. The terabytes, exabytes or even zettabytes of data that’s collected, stored and consumed. In the upcoming posts, we will also try to touch upon the various aspects of these consequential and/or random yet potentially highly useful information (Big Data) being collected from all walks of life.