WHAT IS BIG DATA?
Any analysis of the impact of big data
needs to start by defining what big data
means. The term is commonly used, but
not commonly understood. It refers
primarily to the vast amount of data
continually collected through devices
and technologies such as credit cards
and customer loyalty cards, the internet
and social media and, increasingly, WiFi
sensors and electronic tags. Much of
this data is unstructured – data that
does not conform to a specific, predefined
data model.