Big Data in the House
Oh how marketers love to create buzzwords. The latest: “big business” started putting “big data” in “the cloud”. It took us all months to decipher those concepts. Now they run our lives. Literally.
However, domestically and internationally, mobile technology is expanding the reach and impact of big datasets to empower individuals. For example, health-related applications and technology are beginning to saturate the market with ways to track activity, analyze data and change behaviors. Major companies from Apple to Google to Samsung are creating new wearable devices and monitoring systems to track our every activity (or lack thereof). All of which have the potential to improve health outcomes for individuals and communities.
As is the case with all collected data, the use is only as good as the questions being asked of it. With billions of people on the planet, through the right access to tools, marketing of tools and usage of tools, those questions and uses are limitless.
Further, as costs for collecting data decrease and questions asked of the data increase, the potential for personal utilization and value continues to grow. By tracking patterns and historical data, in addition to real-time data, predictions can also be made about future behavior.
Big data is no longer something we have to use in hindsight. Instead, we can plan ahead knowing that the information able to be collected, especially on ourselves, can be done in the comforts of our own home – or on our own phone. Additionally, in the broader health setting, reports on big data are no longer just for the c-suite and leaders of a company, but can be accessed and assessed for real-time, daily insight into the company and clients.
Real-time access also means that we no longer have to let data process overnight or at the end of a cycle. Instead, knowing how an employee is performing, how many steps a person has taken, or whether a heart pump is working correctly, can all be done with no lag. These efficiencies will inherently save time, money and lives. Big data in the hands of users is the definition of cost-effectiveness.
However, with the explosion of data that is now collected via mobile and hand-held devises, how can data warehouses and clouds collect it, and further, how can people understand it? A recent IDC forecast goes as far as to predict that, “big data technology and services market will grow at a 27% compound annual growth rate to $32.4 billion in 2017 – or at about six times the growth rate of the overall information and communication technology market.”
With those kinds of numbers, new and old players have to think about the world differently. This includes the likes of the old players such as IBM and Oracle, and the newcomers like Tableau. All of these companies are having to work with companies and individuals to learn how best to collect, store and allow access to data. They are learning new methods to make access east, while still having enough security to protect personal information. It is also necessary in this new world that information be transmitted between devices.
In the US, as around the world, the use of big data to address health care needs from prevention to treatment is becoming limitless. If the products consumed are marketed and utilized correctly, health outcomes can improve. This in turn improves the efficiencies and costs for entire communities and companies.
It is only reasonable to assume that in the coming years, big data, and all its boundless uses will be in the hands of every individual, making us all experts at our own health and care.