What Is Big Data?

Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data that current systems are capable of generating and its ability to collect and store, search, share, analyze and visualize. The development of technologies has propelled storage systems so powerful that 50 years ago we thought it was impossible to achieve. How is it possible to save so much data in so few seconds?

Big data is a revolution, since it not only stores data, but is able to relate them to each other. That is, we can say that it is a library, but also a bookseller that is capable of ordering documents by categories. However, big data does not require human help and streamlines tedious work.

Also, this technology refers to those activities related to systems that manipulate large data sets; the procedures used to find repeating patterns within this data, known as data structuring. Next, we develop the concept.

In the age of technology, big data

Today, data has become one of the most valuable assets. There are already many cases where such information is sought for political campaigns or to create advertising targets.

For this reason, big data has become an essential tool in modern society, not only for storing data, but also for the ease it presents and for how accessible it is for everyone.

Its technological advances have allowed storage to be cheaper, by not resorting to a physical space. Therefore, the greater the amount of data we have, the easier it will be to make business, political, commercial or area decisions that are required.

Main characteristics of big data

One of the most important characteristics is what is known as the three Vs: volume, speed and variety.

• The volume is essential, the greater the number of data that we store in the database, the greater the precision of the results that we will obtain. This volume is made up of both structured and unstructured data. One of the advantages of big data is that it organizes said data, both structured and unstructured. Some of the data can be Twitter accounts, or the number of visits to a web page, for example. This type of data would be difficult to quantify if you didn’t have a tool like big data.
• The speed would be the immediacy with which we receive said data and with which they relate to each other. This is one of the advantages of big data, since storage already existed before, but the process of obtaining and linking data was complex and slow. Big data accelerates and simplifies this process until it becomes an action with an almost laughable duration.

• The variety refers to the plurality of data of different kinds. Within the data we can find three types: structured, unstructured and semi-structured. These are the most relevant and before the arrival of big data there were only structured ones, which limited the collection of information. However, with the appearance of unstructured and semi-structured data, the cast of probabilities expands infinitely. To be able to use the new data types, processing is required to convert them into metadata.

More specifically…

Within the three Vs, we can add two other characteristics that have become very strong in recent years: truthfulness and value. Truthfulness is crucial for all big data to have meaning and to be used as an effective tool.

Specifically, because if our database is based on information that is false, all the conclusions or results obtained from said data will be erroneous, so our work will have been of no use.

On the other hand, value, rather than a function of big data, is a characteristic of the data itself. Each of the data that big data stores has an intrinsic value.

For example, in the case of a sports store, we are interested in knowing what type of product the customer buys the most (soccer players’ shirts or tennis rackets?) To guide the offers. Therefore, value is something that we add ourselves depending on what we want to analyze.

Big data is a vital tool for the success of any company. Now, on the other side of the coin, it is important to understand that most of all this data is provided by ourselves without any kind of precaution.

Our data, tastes, hobbies, dreams, preferences, have become one of the most important assets and, not only for the benefit of companies, but for absolutely everything that surrounds us.

We have given the value of big data ourselves and we have to be aware of it. All this information must be used correctly, especially so as not to fall into manipulation and turn people’s data into part of an unscrupulous trade.