Big data

The internet has brought upon significant changes in everyday life. There is more data now than there has ever been before. The amount of data doubles every three years and today less than two percent of all stored information is non-digital.


Big data is rapidly shifting from internal performance metrics commonly found in transactions and ERP systems to the consumer. Modern day big data is being pulled from social networks such as Facebook and twitter. Due to this shift we are constantly being bombarded by incredible amounts data. We are able to draw conclusions from this data and find unusual correlations not normally associated with information gain.

In many instances regarding big data we are no longer searching for why things happen. This is because debate among causation is less relevant when we can agree on the definitive data for correlation. Often times discovering patterns in big data is enough to understand trends, therefore understanding why something happens is not significant as long we can successfully predict what will happen.

For example, we have been able to predict asthma related hospital visits from certain key tweets based on their location and time stamp. We have also been able to successfully predict traffic patterns to optimize driving routes based on real time data streams from cellphones using current GPS location.

On a related note, the more people participating in free/"freemium" big data services the quicker privacy is eroding. More and more end-users are becoming aware of how convenience comes with a considerable cost of transparency and have mixed feelings about this issue. 

It is common place for apps to ask for access to your contact information, recent calls, GPS location, email, and even to post on your behalf on social media websites such as facebook and twitter. In return you're granted access to their application. For example, Google Now is able to draw information from your scheduled calender events and use real time data on airline flights and traffic conditions to notify you that your flight has been delayed and that there is no rush to get to the airport. Is the information you're allowing google to access worth the convince of the app? Is it ok to let big brother watch over you if it has its benefits?


Cukier, Kenneth Neil & Mayer-Schoenberger-Mayer, Viktor. “The Rise of Big Data: How It’s Changing the Way We Think About the World”. ForeignAffairs.com. May/June 2013. Web. 26 January 2014. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139104/kenneth-neil-cukier-and-viktor-mayer-schoenberger/the-rise-of-big-data

Ram, Sudha. "Creating a Smarter World with Big Data: Sudha Ram at TEDxTucson 2013."YouTube. YouTube, 13 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.

“Big Data Gets Personal”. MIT Technology Review. May 2013.

Hello World.

Good morning everyone. My name is Alexander Chang and welcome to my blog. I studied sculpture in my undergrad and received my BFA from the University of Arizona. I am currently a grad student working towards a Master's in Management Information Systems and I'm one class away from obtaining my Business Intelligence and Analytics Certificate.

I work for Johns Manville Alloy Shop and Quality Lab primarily as a Quality Inspector and Data Auditor. In addition to quality, I have a background in safety having operated and managed the wood shop, metal shop, wax shop, and the foundry at the UofA. I have also trained students in safe tool use and several casting processes.

Recently I've been revising the plant's Job Safety Analysis and coming up with database solutions for the company's dated filing system. I hope to learn more about big data management and analytics in MIS 587 in order to gain a better understanding of business intelligence within the context of social networks.

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