Some estimates state that 50 % of all data created by humanity has been created in the last 2 years: it took many thousands of years to create the rest. Volume aside, we increasingly have access to data about physical, social and natural phenomena at a far lower granularity, much higher velocity and greater variety. In many circumstances this has led to breakthroughs ranging from medicines developed at a fraction of the research costs, rapid fraud detection, better breed selection, smarter investments and many others. It has also raised thorny ethical issues, which have at times filled the front pages of newspapers. The course provides an introduction to the growing phenomena of Big Data and addresses geo-spatial information in Big Data analytics. The course first introduces the domain and the emergence of big data as the convergence of several trends (internet of things, digitalization, open data, social media, etc.). It then assesses the properties of big data, the technical and methodological ecosystem associated to Big Data. It then provides examples of applications and uses in sectors such as education, finance, resource management, health care, environmental protection and resource management.
|