Big Data Before and After Snowden

The author reflects on a symposium panel discussion on “Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in the Age of Unlimited Information” that occurred before the Snowden disclosures. He analyzes the panel discussion in context of the time at which it occurred and compares it to what has become known since June 2013.… Continue reading Big Data Before and After Snowden

Big Data: It’s Not the Size That Matters

In this article, the author argues that the premise of “big data” lies not in the amount of data that we can generate, collect or store, but in the ability to use data to make informed decisions. He explores both the needs of data analysis projects and how to apply these types of projects to… Continue reading Big Data: It’s Not the Size That Matters

The Democratization of Big Data

The author explores the origins of “big data” and how the phenomenon was able to spread to a wider audience through parallel technological advances in computer hardware and the open source movement. The article focuses specifically on the progress made by Google related to a series of papers published from 2003 to 2006 that were… Continue reading The Democratization of Big Data