We’ve heard how Big Data is transforming various industries, and how it can affect the fortunes of big businesses, but very few actually specify how Big Data is transforming the world and people’s lives.

To illustrate this, WhoIsHostingThis.com has created an infographic that explores the “Top 7 Ways Big Data Could Revolutionize Our Lives by 2020”.  Though the infographic is pertaining to the year 2020, some of the uses described for Big Data are already being implemented in some parts of the world.

7 Ways Big Data Could Revolutionize Our Lives by 2020

Websites and apps will be safer

In 2012, it was discovered that 63 percent of website owners had no clue that they were hacked, 90 percent did not notice unusual activity on their site, and 50 percent only discovered that their site was hacked when they visited it and their browser issued a warning.

Experts believe that Big Data will deliver better scalability and performance for security information and event management “SIEM”, with the ability to analyze new types of data and increased analysis speed.

SiftScience, founded by ex-Google engineers, fights fraud using large-scale machine-learning that learns from data to recognize patterns of fraudulent behavior based on past examples.

SiftScience’s clients include listia, AirBnb and Uber, among others.  It is able to detect 90 percent of fraud happening on sites and services,

Everyone could have access to higher education

In 2012, there were 22 million unemployed Americans, despite there being more job openings then there have been in nearly four years of recession.  The reason behind this is that most Americans aren’t qualified to apply for said opening positions, because of their educational background.  And one of the biggest hindrances in going to college is the continuous rise of college tuition fees, making it impossible for some to acquire a college degree.

But because of Big Data, people can now afford to go to online classes and get their degrees so they can secure better jobs.  Online programs offered by Coursera, Venture Lab, and Big Data University utilize Big Data technologies such as Hadoop to be able to offer online courses to more people.

Landing a job will become easier

Aside from Big Data helping people get educated, it also helps to actually land a job. Services such as Indeed.com offer easy access to information regarding job positions available, skills needed, and even job-seekers.  Prospective employees can use Indeed’s database to determine if their skills are in demand, what their competitive markets are, and which companies are hiring for specific skills.

Roads will be safer

Car manufacturers are pushing to release fully autonomous cars by 2020-2025.  This is due to the belief that roads will be much safer if human input is reduced to a minimum, since computers can be programmed to drive more carefully, without encountering problems, whilst machine-to-machine communication will ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Both the cloud and Big Data will play a huge role in this effort.  Intel is already working on technology that allows vehicles to communicate with others on the road, allowing a car to see three cars in front, behind, and on each side at the same time.  Ford is working on a technology that would allow vehicles to communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure such as traffic lights to warn drivers of potential hazards.  And we all know about Google’s self-driving car, which is equipped with cameras, laser sensors, and other technology that allows it to wind its way through the streets without any need for the driver’s input.

We’ll predict the future for smarter business

Businesses, big or small, will be able to leverage more data from sources to make rapid and more accurate measurements.  Leveraging Hadoop allows businesses to analyze huge amounts of data to make sense of consumer behavior and their own operations.  IDC predicts that Hadoop will be worth around $813 million by 2016.

Big Data can be used to predict and monitor trends, improve customer service, and analyze other details.  Companies such as REcorded Future and DataTorrent help enterprises to anticipate risks, capitalize on opportunities, and process, monitor, and analyze data.

We’ll predict the weather and protect the environment

Weather disturbances and changes in the environment cause damage amounting to billions of dollars, and can have a big impact on people’s lives.  Weather is ever-changing and can be difficult to predict, thus storm warnings often come just hours before they unleash themselves. But through the use of Big Data, researchers believe that weather patterns can be identified to make it easier to predict when a storm will hit, allowing evacuation warnings to be issued earlier.

In 2018, the Joint Polar Satellite Mission will be launched.  It will be using sensor technology and data gathering to forecast the path of hurricanes and storms to allow for better planning.  IBM’s Deep Thunder division uses Big Data weather modeling to predict near-term events for its clients in various industries such as agriculture, utilities, transportation, and municipal governments.  Meanwhile, EarthRisk Technologies has developed a new model for predicting weather up to 42 days in advance.

Healthcare will be more efficient, effective and customized

Big Data can be utilized to anticipate health threats based on people’s activities. As of today, 80 percent of medical data is unstructured but clinically relevant. If this data can be better leveraged, it could create more than $300 billion in value each year.

There are already a number of companies and hospitals leveraging Big Data to take better care of their patients.  The Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston is rolling out a smartphone app that will give caregivers self-service access to 200 million data points of about 2 million patients. Asthmapolis merges data from inhaler usage gathered via GPS-enabled trackers with CDC information, so physicians can develop personalized treatment plans, and spot prevention opportunities. Then there’s mHealthCoach, which uses data to help patients with chronic illnesses monitor their medication via an interative system. Finally, Rise Health uses patient’s data to align them with the goals of healthcare providers to improve healthcare and create new insights.

Infographic:

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photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

photo credit: ViaMoi via photopin cc

photo credit: ViaMoi via photopin cc