Data: With great power comes great responsibility

Hack.Chat with Comlinkdata

“Broad data is great. Accurate broad data is really great. But to be able to devise insights for people that can inform their decisions — that’s really fantastic.” Iain Murray, Chief Technology Officer at Comlinkdata

“Data science” and “big data” are today’s buzzwords in tech, and they are constantly being thrown around — but what really are they? Comlinkdata, a leading provider of data-driven business insights for the telecommunications market, led the first Hack.Chat of 2019. The Hack community joined members of Comlinkdata’s team to discuss data science, big data, the important information we can derive from data, and the challenges associated with big data.

Data science vs. big data: which is what?

Comlinkdata kicked off the presentation with an interactive Q&A about the foundational definition of data science. Hack Fellows and Alumni contributed their understanding of data science by offering up thoughtful interpretations of what constitutes data science. For example, one Fellow suggested data science as being a combination of computer science, math, and business analytics. Brendan Puntin, Senior Data Engineer at Comlinkdata, explained that data science essentially is the process of taking raw data and translating it into actionable insights for businesses by cleansing, processing, and analyzing it. Whereas, as he explained it, big data is “everything outside of a spreadsheet” — it’s the information and physical data set that is used to derive insights.

The good, the bad, and the in-between

There are so many real world benefits from collecting and analyzing big data. For decades, we have leveraged big data to improve productivity and efficiency, increase revenue and reduce costs all while improving life for consumers — data can fairly justify any business decision. Ryan Murphy, Business Analyst for Client Analytics and Insights, is a member of the team that delivers the derived insights to clients after the data is processed and analyzed. Ryan walked the Fellows through a real world case study exploring how data can predict the wireless connection usage vs. mobile data usage of low income neighborhoods vs. higher income neighborhoods. Using the information from the data in this case study, the companies who manage network towers, from which companies, like Verizon and AT&T, lease, can understand how this affects market impact.

However, like all things, there are challenges with big data; storage needs, security/compliance, data filtering, and validation are just some of the difficulties associated with managing big data sets.

Kyle Cornetta, Vice President of Data Operations, describes the importance of being thorough when analyzing a raw data set as the process of “uncovering every rock” because missing a step can change the meaning of the data, thus negatively affecting the insights that are provided to the client.

Viewing data differently

Data is variable and can be applicable for many markets and industries. Data science is an all-encompassing term that can lead to different outcomes in different markets. Within the telecommunications market, we gained insight into how Comlinkdata provides their clients with information on consumer behavior that enables better understanding of why consumers switch or stay with providers and forecast what services, features, and experiences might influence future decision making.

“I loved hearing about what the company does. I really enjoyed how they walked us through some specific problems they have and showed us how they deal with it. Now I have an understanding of how data science can be used to get business insights. If time allowed, I would have loved to see how they implement those insights!” — Braulio Duarte, Software Engineer intern at WordStream and 2019 Fellow

Huge THANK YOU to Comlinkdata’s team: Nicole Balhorn, Kyle Cornetta, Clara Easter, Ryan Murphy, Iain Murray, Matthew Nobbs, Brendon Puntin, Marlena Slowik, Zach Weiss, and Brandon Wilson — for hosting, presenting, and sharing their data science expertise with us!

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