British "taste" large data era

"In Los Angeles, the police analyzed the data to predict which area was most likely to be committed within 12 hours; in the City of London, a trader thinks math can be a" secret "; in South America, astronomers try to classify the entire universe ... These disparate fields now have the same feature: a big burst of data. ”

This is the opening scene of the BBC's brand new "Horizon" documentary, The Big Data age.

Indeed, the ubiquitous mass of information is changing the whole world and our way of life, and a big data revolution is coming quietly. From government, research institutions to businesses, Britons have been "tasting" big data technologies.

Despite the economic downturn and forced fiscal tightening, big figures remain the extravagantly of the British government. Earlier this year, the British Ministry of Commerce, Innovation and Skills announced that it would inject 600 million pounds (1 pounds in 1). 52 USD) Development of 8 categories of High-tech, large data monopoly of which 1. 8.9 billion pounds.

Willetts, the Secretary of State for Science and Technology, said the government would invest heavily in computing infrastructure and strengthen data collection and analysis, which would also attract companies to invest in the field, thus taking the lead in the data revolution.

Willetts pointed out that successful High-tech strategies should focus not only on scientific research itself, but also on promoting the transformation of new technologies from laboratories to commercial applications.

When it comes to business applications, the ability of large data technology to create value is already emerging in the UK. According to an industry report, the UK government can save about 33 billion pounds a year by efficiently using large public data technology, equivalent to about 500 pounds a year per person in the UK.

Large data creates value based on the core logic that today's society in business, economics, government and related areas, decision-making behavior is increasingly dependent on data and analysis, but not experience and intuition. Large data technology can provide a certain "foresight reference" for decision-making, and successful analysis and foresight often bring commercial and economic value.

In the case of retail chains, Tesco, Britain's largest supermarket chain, has begun using large data technology to collect and analyze its customer behavior information datasets. Tesco first identifies a number to each customer in a large data system, then through the customer's credit card consumption, fill in questionnaires, call customer service phone and other behavior to collect their relevant data, and then use computer system to establish a specific model, the vast number of data for each customer analysis, to obtain specific customer consumption habits, Recent conclusions on possible consumer demand to develop targeted promotional programs and adjust commodity prices. This targeted marketing and pricing model provides Tesco with a more efficient way to make profits.

Earlier this month, Britain's first medical and Health Research Center, which used large data technology, was established at Oxford University. British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the unveiling ceremony that the establishment of the Centre is expected to revolutionize British medical research and medical services, and will promote new advances in medical data analysis to help scientists better understand human disease and its treatment.

According to reports, the research center has a total investment of 90 million pounds, can accommodate 600 researchers. By collecting, storing and analyzing a large amount of medical information, the center identifies the direction of development of new drugs, thereby reducing the cost of drug development and providing clues to the discovery of new therapies.

As a new thing, the development of large data still faces many challenges. Peter Donnally, a professor of statistics at Oxford University, told Xinhua that the current bottleneck in large data technology is information gathering, with the new Medical and Health Research Center at Oxford University, the first to have sufficient information on patients and drugs, which is the basis of data analysis, While many patients may be reluctant to provide this information for privacy reasons, pharmaceutical companies may also be reluctant to share sensitive information such as drug ingredients because of commercial interests.

To draw useful conclusions from massive data, professional data analysis is the key. Rori Collins, a professor at Oxford University, believes that when enough information is collected, it needs to be summed up and analyzed by professionals and information technology experts in relevant fields, and whether this interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary cooperation can be successfully implemented is a problem in the practical application of large data.

In addition, the technical level of network bandwidth, storage capacity, and other issues, the existing infrastructure can not meet the vast amount of information analysis and processing needs. Therefore, how to reduce storage costs and improve application value is the key to large data.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)