Big Data”s been quite the buzzword this past year, but what’s next for this most promising technology?  In the sixth and final episode of the Big Data Deep Dive series, SiliconAngle CEO John Furrier and Wikibon co-founder Dave Vellante discuss the future of Big Data with EMC TV anchor Richard Schlesinger (full video below).

Vellante kicks things off by saying that in the old days, the information in an organization’s data warehouse was the “only version of the truth” available to that company’s decision makers. Big Data technologies are changing all that: mathematical analysis makes it possible to weed out bad info in a highly efficient manner.

Furrier illustrates the significance of dependability in this area by pointing out that, just like everything else, bad data scales and subsequent misguided conclusions lead to errors that can easily snowball out of control.  Similarly, extracting insights from reliable sources can deliver massive improvements across the board.   He goes on to say that data quality assurance is one of the biggest challenges the industry faces today.

Vellante’s take is that this barrier can only be overcome via iteration and constant improvement, but unfortunately only a select group of individuals are currently up to the task. Data scientists are short in supply and high in demand, a factor that Cloudera co-founder Jeff Hammerbacher recently addressed in theCube.

“As data volumes have grown, and as the complexity of data that is collected and analyzed has increased, new novel software architectures have emerged. What I’m most excited is the fact that software is open-source, and we’re playing a key role in driving where that software is going. And what I’m most excited about on top of that is the commoditization of that software – I’m tired of talking about the container in which you put your data,” Hammerbacher said. “No one should be required to invest tremendous amounts of money in their container anymore. They should be identifying novel data sources, algorithms to manipulate that data and the smartest people for using that data.”

Furrier wraps up the Big Data Deep Dive by highlighting that everything generates data, and everybody will be affected by it thanks to the technology that is being developed by the data science community.

See the entire Big Data Deep Dive series in the playlist below: