Data Analytics- A Picture Paints a Thousand Rows
Data is the foundation of everything at the moment. It is the basis of business, marketing, and sales as well as the groundwork for change. There are many buzzwords associated with data such as; big data, data science, data analytics, and data visualization. I hope to clear some of these phrases up today and give you some insight into what these popular phrases actually refer to.
Data is simply information; it is information that has been collected and is usually used for research and reference. Big data is more complex, it is large amounts of data that is hard to analyze and process. Although big data can be difficult to work with, it is extremely valuable in fields such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and IOT (the internet of things). Data science is actually a field of study. It is the study of data and how we can extract valuable insights from the data that will further our understanding of the information.
By 2020, the accumulated volume of big data will increase from 4.4 zettabytes to roughly 44 zettabytes (44 trillion GB), that is a percentage increase of 900! With the projected increase in the volume of data produced this year, it is going to be essential to have people trained in the field of data science and analytics which will create new courses in universities and institutions and provide more job types for analytical minds.
Oracle’s mission statement expresses the importance of data and how much we can gain from it when it is properly understood.
Data Analytics vs. Data Visualization:
Data analytics, it is a term you have probably heard before. It is everywhere, constantly in the news in relation to breaches and security issues. But it is not all to do with privacy, in fact, when used correctly, data analysis can be extremely helpful in releasing new information that previously may have been misunderstood by the general population. If you have not heard of the term, or don’t quite understand what it means, here is a brief definition of data analytics from Techopedia: “refers to the qualitative and quantitative techniques and processes used to enhance productivity and business gain.”
Data visualization is the presentation of the information collected. These illustrations allow us to detect trends that may have gone unnoticed had the data stayed dormant in a spreadsheet. It allows us to gain new insights when we see the information portrayed in a clean and crisp diagram. Data analytics allows us to explore information like never before. Data visualization allows us to envision information like never before. The new technologies that are being produced are revolutionizing the way we see data. It is making data more accessible to a wider audience as visuals provide a universal image that a wider audience can understand.
I have included two very basic examples of using data visualization to represent analytics from social media. These in particular are my LinkedIn views and reaction statistics for the week of November 4th, 2019 to November 8th, 2019. These visualizations were created using the free online tool, DataWrapper.
For more advanced data visualization, Oracle provide a great tool on their analytics cloud service, I have included a free trial link here for readers to experiment with.
Data Analytics and Data Visualization: Use Cases
There is huge demand for data analysts as it is such a new and exciting area. According to BHEF and PWC America’s Data Science and Analytics Talent: The Case for Action Report “By 2020, there will be 2.7 million job postings for data science and analytics roles.”
Data is being used for so many things at the moment, particularly in business, advertising and marketing. One of the most interesting use cases of data analytics I have discovered is using data for social media analysis and response. A company that is doing great work with data and analytics is Sprout Social. This provides one place for all of your social media analytics and engagement. It allows you to manage your social media platforms, insights, analytics and engagement all on one site. You can also work on publicity content as a team. Beginning in 2010, raising one million dollars to having over 500 employees worldwide. They now have many awards under their belt such as the Glassdoor Top CEO Awards, 2019.
Another compelling way data is being used is in the Internet of Things. Data is the basis of the internet of things. IOT use technologies such as sensors to gather real time data. Data analytics complements IOT as it analyses the data collected by connected devices. There are many different types of analytics used in IOT. These include spatial analytics, streaming analytics, time series analytics and prescriptive analytics. When applied, these different types of analytics can release information and gain insight like never before.
To conclude, I hope you learned something new about data analytics. Data analytics is a new and fascinating area of technology today. The ways in which we view data is changing rapidly, it is an exciting area of tech to be in.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can check out the podcast I did featuring Conor Warde, Business Development Manager, Ashik Wani of Docacquire and Daniel Sawko of Taina Technologies. We discussed interesting use cases of data analytics and how it is actually being use in industry, specifically in document and tax form analysis.
*All views and opinions discussed are mine and not that of Oracle*
