The Cool of Big Data

It’s Big. Now it’s also very cool.

If you’ve been grappling with a clear understanding of Big Data it can certainly be confusing. And depending how geeky you are – or aren’t – “cool” is probably not the first descriptor that comes to mind.  But you have to see this, The Human Face of Big Data.

You may have heard about this project, which has been underway for several months.  It puts the concept of Big Data in practical and personal terms, then connects it to global scale.  Sponsored by EMC, Cisco, FedEx and others, a team of 100 Photographers in 30 countries have been recording images that show the Human Face of Big Data.  (If you’ve visited the EMC web site in the last few months it’s been hard to miss the expanding head.) 

The project also promoted a phone app that helped capture personal data to provide a single day snapshot on October 2 from smartphones around the world. 

Now they’ve completed the primary project stage which includes the publication of a large format book and an enticing iPad app – both linked from their website or available from the usual suspects. 

What’s especially enticing is that the book/app make it very simple to understand what it is and why it’s important.  How it applies to our daily lives.  In an interview for CNN Rick Smolan, who drove the project with his business partner Jennifer Erwitt, talks about how all this data has the potential to change life as we know it:

“Imagine if your whole life you had been looking through just one eye.  Then all of a sudden you can open the second eye.  You aren’t just getting more information, you’re getting a new dimension of understanding.  … We’re starting to see patterns we’ve never perceived before. … it’s impacting everything.”

Part of the plan was to deliver 10,000 of the books to key influencers around the world and do it all on the same day, December 4^th. 

 I bet the package delivery services love it. 

 Also, all of the profits from the iPad app are being donated to charity that funds clean water projects.

 The iPad app includes features ranging from “How do Babies Learn to Speak” to why “Data is the New Oil” to a map of the frenetic Pizza delivery bikers in Manhattan.  Some are just fun, some a bit scary.  All fascinatingly show a glimpse of what is yet to come.

 So far, much of the Big Data chatter has focused on the technology and the commercial applications.   

Here’s a view that humanizes it.