Big Data is here to stay and although a lot of people are wary about the implications of mass data collection and how it could potentially be abused, it is fair to say that Big Data is just as likely, if not more so, to be a force for good in our lives as it is to have a negative influence.
Bearing that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most important ways Big Data will improve your life now and in the future.
Health and wellbeing
There are numerous ways that BigDat could help to improve your health and wellbeing. For one thing, now that tracking devices are so readily available, it has never been easier for us to collect health and wellbeing data individually and on a large scale. The individual data can help you to make small changes in your life, but that mass collection of data, well that could help healthcare professionals like Dr. Dorian Wilkerson, a prominent biostatistician, improve the speed and accuracy of clinical trials and other medical advances. This would undoubtedly be a force for good in our lives.
Save money
Many of us are under the impression that Big Data will be used to rip us off in one way or another, by aggressively targeting us with commercials, for instance, and although that could be true, it’s also true that Big Data can save you money by matching offers to your specific needs and improving the efficiency of businesses everywhere so the cost of various consumer products comes down.
Not only that, but Big Data can help you to monitor energy usage, track the cheapest flight prices and reduce your car insurance policy via telemetrics. So, although Big Data can undoubtedly be used to squeeze your wallet, it can also be used to boost your bank account too.
Transportation
Another area where Big Data can improve all our lives is in the urban transportation industry. Using things like real-time data capture, GPS systems, and social media monitoring, urban transportation planners can get a better idea of how public transport is being used, when it is most often used, and where efficiencies can be made. This could make public transportation a more viable option for many of us, making for pleasanter journeys, lower costs, and less car usage, which will, of course, benefit the planet as a whole.
Waste management
Waste management is always a big talking point during local elections,. Disposing of our waste efficiently is something we all seem to care about to some extent, and big data can help us do it more efficiently by using sensors to alert when trashcans are full, by tracking usage trends, and by monitoring usage in real-time, we can dispose of our waste way more effectively than every before.
As you can see, there are numerous benefits to Big Data, so although you may wish to be cautious, it isn’t all bad news, and it really could be a good thing in all our lives.
