Tech Trends in Practice

TREND 4Big Data and Augmented Analytics

The One-Sentence Definition

In very simple terms, “big data” refers to the exponential explosion in the amount of data being generated in this increasingly digital age, while “augmented analytics” refers to the ability to automatically work with and generate insights from data.

What Is Big Data and Augmented Analytics?

Let’s start with the data itself, because data is critical to so many of the trends in this book, including artificial intelligence (AI, Trend 1), the Internet of Things (IoT, Trend 2), natural language processing (Trend 10), and facial recognition (Trend 12). Without data, the massive leaps we’ve seen in these trends – and many other technology trends – wouldn’t be possible.

At the heart of big data is the idea that the more data you have, the easier it is to gain new insights, and even predict what will happen in the future. By analyzing masses of data, it’s possible to spot patterns and relationships that were previously unknown. And when you can understand the relationships between data points, you can better predict future outcomes, and make smarter decisions on what to do next. It’s no exaggeration, then, to say that big data brings incredible opportunities to understand and change our world for the better.

But what is it that makes data, well, “big”? After all, data isn’t exactly a new thing. What’s new is the unprecedented digitization of our lives, where almost everything we do leaves a digital footprint. This ...