By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data science anayst
    Growing Demand for Data Science & Data Analyst Roles
    6 Min Read
    predictive analytics in dropshipping
    Predictive Analytics Helps New Dropshipping Businesses Thrive
    12 Min Read
    data-driven approach in healthcare
    The Importance of Data-Driven Approaches to Improving Healthcare in Rural Areas
    6 Min Read
    analytics for tax compliance
    Analytics Changes the Calculus of Business Tax Compliance
    8 Min Read
    big data analytics in gaming
    The Role of Big Data Analytics in Gaming
    10 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: When “Little Data” Can Do the Trick
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
ai in automotive industry
AI Is Changing the Automotive Industry Forever
Artificial Intelligence
SMEs Use AI-Driven Financial Software for Greater Efficiency
Artificial Intelligence
data security in big data age
6 Reasons to Boost Data Security Plan in the Age of Big Data
Big Data
data science anayst
Growing Demand for Data Science & Data Analyst Roles
Data Science
ai software development
Key Strategies to Develop AI Software Cost-Effectively
Artificial Intelligence
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Data Management > Best Practices > When “Little Data” Can Do the Trick
Best PracticesText Analytics

When “Little Data” Can Do the Trick

Erica Driver
Last updated: 2012/06/19 at 3:18 PM
Erica Driver
5 Min Read
SHARE

Sometimes it’s good to step out of one’s normal activities just to see what ideas get sparked or unexpected connections you make. Last week I went to the Text Analytics Summit in Boston for just this reason. I took loads of notes – my tag cloud is below.


Sometimes it’s good to step out of one’s normal activities just to see what ideas get sparked or unexpected connections you make. Last week I went to the Text Analytics Summit in Boston for just this reason. I took loads of notes – my tag cloud is below.

More Read

Sentiment, Summits and Strategies: A Conversation with Seth Grimes

Tag Cloud from Text Analytics Summit Boston.png

As you might imagine, the term Big Data came up a lot at this conference. My favorite definition came from Meta Brown of LinguaSys: “If it’s hard for you to handle, it’s Big.” More formally, Big Data refers to the enormous volume, velocity, and variety of data that exists and has the potential to be turned into business value. Big Data can be structured or unstructured. It can be created by people, calculated by systems, or generated by machines. According to IDC, the volume of digital content in the world will grow to 2.7 billion terabytes in 2012, up 48% from 2011 — and it’s rocketing toward 8 billion terabytes by 2015. (See the IDC report, “IDC Predictions 2012: Competing for 2020,” December 2011.)

In a couple of specific examples from the Text Analytics Summit:

  • NASA is using aviation data to improve flight safety. In the U.S. alone there are roughly 9 million flight departures a year, each of which generates data on hundreds of parameters every second during a flight. Data is generated by the aircraft, satellites, and other systems. In addition, each flight has unstructured data associated with it, such as safety reports and write-ups from pilots and co-pilots.*  Some data resides with the airlines; other data resides in government systems. NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is using analytics to dig through all this data to uncover insights that can identify and prevent potential runway incursions and other accidents.
  • eBay is using social media data to get closer to customers. As of June 2012, eCommerce giant eBay had indexed more than 40 million blogs and forums (60 billion posts – that’s 10,000 a second!), which amounts to 65 terabytes of data. Why? The company has a social data intelligence program in place to help decision makers better understand the company’s audiences, influencers, and competitive position, and to deliver superior customer service. A global social analytics team works with multiple groups across the company to find and share insights from all this data.** 

A theme that emerged from the Text Analytics Summit is what I think of as “little data” (though it’s really only little in comparison to Big Data). In use cases like NASA’s aviation safety research program, where every single piece of data is important for the analysis at hand, it’s not useful to take just a subset of the data because something critically important may be missed.

But in uses cases like eBay’s (using customer insights drawn from social media to drive revenue and improve the customer experience), it can be highly effective to use sampling and other techniques to grab a subset of all the data and perform the analytics on that. It’s similar in the legal sector; during a lawsuit, a company’s legal team wants to use and present to the opposing side only documents that are relevant to a particular case and issue.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but it came across loud and clear during presentations at the Text Analytics Summit: an organization’s ability to optimize the process of deriving value from Big Data in a cost-effective way depends on the use case, business drivers, and characteristics of the data.

 

———————————

* According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Research and Innovative Technology Administration, in 2012 (ending on the last day of February) there were 9,098,000 departures, compared to 9,125,000 in the same period 2011, a change of -0.3%. For more information see http://www.transtats.bts.gov/.

**On June 13, 2012, eBay’s social commerce analyst Palm Norchoovech shared these insights in a presentation titled, “Global Social Analytics @eBay” at the Text Analytics Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find more info here: http://bit.ly/GSnH03.


TAGGED: Text Analytics Summit
Erica Driver June 19, 2012
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

ai in automotive industry
AI Is Changing the Automotive Industry Forever
Artificial Intelligence
SMEs Use AI-Driven Financial Software for Greater Efficiency
Artificial Intelligence
data security in big data age
6 Reasons to Boost Data Security Plan in the Age of Big Data
Big Data
data science anayst
Growing Demand for Data Science & Data Analyst Roles
Data Science

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

Sentiment, Summits and Strategies: A Conversation with Seth Grimes

13 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

AI and chatbots
Chatbots and SEO: How Can Chatbots Improve Your SEO Ranking?
Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Exclusive
ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?