An illustration with "BIG DATA" text, featuring panels of a bank, a doctor, a shop, and a security-related silhouette against a blue binary code background.

We are witnessing a movement that will completely transform any part of business and society. The word we have given to this movement is Big Data and it will change everything, from the way banks and shops operate to the way we treat cancer and protect our world from terrorism. No matter what job you are in and no matter what industry you work in, Big Data will transform it. Some people believe that Big Data is just a big fad that will go away if they ignore it for long enough. It won’t! The hype around Big Data and the name may disappear (which wouldn’t be a great loss), but the phenomenon will stay and only gather momentum. What we call Big Data today will simply become the new normal in a few years’ time, when all businesses and government organizations use large volumes of data to improve what they do and how they do it. I work every day with companies and government organizations on Big Data projects and thought it would be a good idea to share how Big Data is used today, across lots of different industries, among big and small companies, to deliver real value. But first things first, let’s just look at what Big Data actually means. See more