Big Data – Part II – How Society Transforms itself with Big Data

Like Internet of Things and other innovations, Big Data will undoubtedly bring a series of changes in society. We will highlight some very frequently pointed out:

• Availability. One positive aspect that comes quickly is to think is the availability of information for our convenience. Information of unprecedented nature and in greater volume, with analytical treatment for each case. This will allow us to decide as consumers, as citizens or as professionals, a way to take insurance, and much more quickly.
• Agility, automation and performance. Possessing more information and, rather, information not previously available – will allow us to act fast, automatically route processes and have results in a chain of actions that can start automatically by capturing data, until its treatment, so that it arrives in our hands very quickly. Taken in a macro view, it will bring a society more agile, reactive, aware and very responsive to actions in chain. In the business environment, it can be a speed that will put the company ahead of competitors, and in a public administration, an information and process that will bring well-being and quality to the citizens in a forceful way. For us, we already see this trend – we want to be more connected, informed of our interests anywhere, anytime.
• Multi-Segmented Society. It is not new the use of segments, for product creation, customer service, marketing campaigns, etc. Business Intelligence software has been collaborating on this aspect for years. However, Big Data’s proposal is an extrapolation of the segments, enabled by its innovative and high-capacity architecture. The stratification will be richer, reaching micro segments according to the analytical objective. Data from social networks combined with use of services, combined with regional anonymous data, age, behavioral, location, etc. can create dynamic segments, where traditional marketing actions, service offerings will become richer. Society will be analyzed through more enriched behavior.
• More Transparency in various activities. The information available to people, companies, organizations was increasing with time, in the digital medium or not. Some decades ago, citizens started interacting with the Web for various purposes. In the criminal or legal context, the internet should be seen as an extension of reality, not introducing a step of privacy, but maintaining historical privacy, always defended from the point of view of the law. Thus, according to legal investigation procedures, with respect for privacy – activities like civil, public, financial, labor, etc., that involve people and businesses will be better documented and available in part when needed. In the end, it is easier to gather information about individuals faster, with more volume, with more variety. In another way, we can say that these activities have more transparency and is a way of defending society more in a preventive or corrective way of illegal acts. Like any powerful tool, Big Data can be used for a variety of purposes, whether ethical or not, but we understand that in the aggregate, society is allowed to regulate itself around its welfare and there are advantages to a greater degree. Capturing data from all these activities enriches the history of individuals, corporations and public organizations, making them all “charge” for correct behavior, and this intention predominates in a society.
• Innovation in Economic Activity. Imagine that you realize that farmers with information in detail on the claims of crop buyers – local or external – are fundamental information for their survival, and this is done by direct communication or by trying to understand the market. Imagine carriers that act more or less on demand, including seasonality and the market as a whole, but on demand. Imagine that the public administration directed to the rural area of ​​some of our states has an agricultural incentive amount, in the training of technicians in several areas, but it promotes trainings and courses in a historical way, according to traditional demand. Where does this all relate? Considering that a new perspective of capture, analytical analysis and business intelligence is part of the Big Data world, but with an unprecedented way of dealing with large volumes online, with a lot of variety and speed, imagine the value that can be provided to these economic activities. Crossing data from areas with interrelated processes can give new answers by supporting previously unimagined business. The application in this case, having access to these various themes, is to give greater depth to the decision of each of these segments. The carrier, in possession of the intentions of agricultural groups, as well as the public administrator, will act in a more specific way. Farming businesses can benefit from a more complete network of purchase intentions for their network. Notice that in these cases, we already work with trends, pre-contracts or market information, but what we talk about here is an application that treats this cross-information benefiting the entire economic chain, in a simplified example. Information on economic activities is already migrating in an accessible way for the network, but as many segments, it is necessary to have a standard form of use, think of integrator and knowledge-maker partnerships, intelligence in the software and connect the sources appropriately.
• In the field of Health, we will have more information on treatment and medical records, access to data from pharmaceutical companies, wearables for monitoring people, surveys, endemic data, more specialized information treated, social networking data, expert blogs. Data structured on bases or not. Data that will eventually need to be anonymous due to privacy. Data that will be protected due to financial interests. However, with the use of Big Data and its applications at the top, aiming for “e-Health”, there will be a pressure for information. Competition, regulatory, common practices … will surely read from the connected society the need to structure, interconnect, allow health mashups to evolve. Big Data is a typical architecture here, translating data from multiple sources, merging structured data or not, and offering analysis and decision-making tools for the whole society at the top.
• In the area of ​​Public Administration, very good news. For the citizen, and the public administrator, in our country, because we know that they need to know each other better. In many places, having information of demands of various types of citizen and acting with this priority can be the difference of a good or bad government. Otherwise, it can make the citizen use of better services and that are rendered in a more convenient way. Location, segmentation, feasibility, all the conditions that classify the life of all in the city are opportunities of an interaction with the administration. Manage investments, services, taxes, local talent, all this opens up a new perspective with a volume and variety that Big Data allows. On the issue of governance as a whole, the public sector will have a better chance of reducing fraud and illiquidity, reducing costs, prioritizing investments, conducting social programs, balancing revenue and improving security and transportation.
• In the retail area, the benefits of improving customer experiences with more information, being aware of customer participation in social networks, and driving better targeted, almost one-to-one campaigns with personalized offerings are unprecedented differentials offered by business process with Big Data. In this area that has fierce competition and is dynamic, having this information online, and responding promptly is essential. Being reactive to the market in this complete and fast way is a differential that every retailer seeks. Even with the best Customer Care, marketing and e-commerce tools, it will be inevitable at a certain point to build your Big Data base to be competitive. Behind the scenes, having efficient inventory and logistics, customizing channels with supply and coverage, and working at the right prices for each time and place are other benefits.

In the industrial and manufacturing, education, justice and banking, banking areas there are also benefits, and we are getting rich in cases of success in all areas.

The interesting thing is that applications that cross information between the sectors enrich and potentiate each sector. As it is said, we have a glimpse of a society with more options, much more information, and it is a way without return.

So, what we see is a trend that starts, but it will still transform our society a lot. Creation of new types of information, new segments, new data models. In addition to a richer nature of included sources, in parallel a much greater intensity of the traditional data creates this panorama. A greater view of information and smaller systems predominating in corporate architectures will be typical. External sources, many partners, data in the cloud, integration with social networks, internet of things are the ingredients that complement Big Data transformation.

(to be continued)

Main image from “CreativeMagic” @ Pixabay.com