Advanced Analytics crucial discipline in a Data Driven Society

We live in a ‘data driven society’ where BigData, today’s hot-topic, manifests itself in many industrial domains, such as healthcare, public safety, finance and other commercial areas. BigData is commonly addressed in terms of 4 V’s: Volume, Variety, Velocity and Veracity. Volume and Variety imply organisations to have a firm grip on information management,  Velocity motivates for fast, optimized algorithms and Veracity focuses on governance, compliance, context and information-value. It is here where the discipline of Advanced Analytics plays a crucial role. But what actually is Advanced Analytics?

In general, analytics refers to the discipline that encompasses all processes and techniques to extract information and models from data.  In the IT industry Analytics is understood as the process or method of logical analysis leading to the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data using statistics, computer programming and operations research to quantify and optimize performance.

The discipline Advanced Analytics, includes advanced techniques and methodologies such as data-modelling, machine learning, and data mining in order to detect patterns or finding relationships in the data. Typical techniques include clustering, decision tree building, text analysis, context mining, trend analysis, and predictive modeling. Interesting aspects are to find ways where prior information known by humans can be combined with data sources in such a way that it optimizes the learning processes and deduction of statistical or semantic patterns.

Most organisations stress the business expectations of advanced analytics by saying “advanced analytics involves data-analysis and sophisticated quantitative methods to produce insights that traditional approaches (e.g. business intelligence) are unlikely to discover”. Although I agree on this, it is here where I want to put a strong remark: the discipline of advanced analytics is not limited to business processes, organisational management and customer behaviour. The value of advanced analytics manifest itself in other areas, such as public safety, healthcare having goals related to situational awareness and personalized medicine.

The discipline of Advanced Analytics will become a commonality within 2-5 years. In the meantime, while the heat of the BigData hype will settle down to normal temperatures, we might start to think about the next thing: "what would be the role and influence of individual humans in a connected, data driven and perhaps predictable world?"

Wico Mulder
4-3-2014