12. Future applications of big data

Early this century the rise of the relational database, public web access, wireless, and other technologies made the study and management of massive data sets a real and present challenge that needed a name. In July of 2013 the Oxford English Dictionary adopted the phrase, “big data,” but it’s been around since as early as World War II to apply to working with massive amounts of information.

Big data refers to data sets that are too large and complex for traditional data processing and data managementapplications.  Big Data became more popular with the advent of mobile and IoT technology, with people producing more and more data (geolocation, social apps, fitness apps, etc…) and accessing digital data on their devices.

It has also become the catch-all term for gathering, analyzing, and using massive amounts of digital information to improve business operations. As data sets continue to grow, and applications continue to become more real-time, big data and big data processing are more and more moving to the cloud.


 Talend Real-Time Open Source Data Integration Software. (2019). What is Big Data and Where Is It Going? - Talend. [online] Available at: https://www.talend.com/resources/future-big-data/ [Accessed 18 Jan. 2019].