Every day, big data analysis leads to innovative ideas, applications, and knowledge. Many of these innovations and discoveries are shared via dynamic TED talk presentations. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." Many of TED's best presenters utilize big data analysis techniques, too. For example, here is a presentation called “Your Phone Company is Watching”, by Malte Spitz.
Big data is all around us. What can it do for you? us? the world? Tara's use of big data to win a political campaign is no longer a novel strategy:
The Obama team understood the importance of execution and the difficulties of data complexities. One of that group's first priorities before the election was to undertake a massive, 18-month-long database merge so that all data could be housed in a single repository. The database focus also allowed the Obama camp to think expansively in its approach to metrics. "We are going to measure every single thing in this campaign," campaign manager Jim Messina told TIME. Messina was also given good resources to work with: according to the article, he hired an analytics department five times bigger than the 2008 operation. Quite the contrast to the rushed approach taken by the Romney campaign.
So what was the Obama camp able to do with this big data trove? One senior official from the campaign told TIME that the group "ran the election 66,000 times every night" based on the day's data and allocated resources based on likely outcomes. In addition, the demographic information they collected and scored against other factors allowed them to find more targeted ways to buy television advertising to reach their "microtargeted" voters.
The Obama team understood the importance of execution and the difficulties of data complexities. One of that group's first priorities before the election was to undertake a massive, 18-month-long database merge so that all data could be housed in a single repository. The database focus also allowed the Obama camp to think expansively in its approach to metrics. "We are going to measure every single thing in this campaign," campaign manager Jim Messina told TIME. Messina was also given good resources to work with: according to the article, he hired an analytics department five times bigger than the 2008 operation. Quite the contrast to the rushed approach taken by the Romney campaign.
So what was the Obama camp able to do with this big data trove? One senior official from the campaign told TIME that the group "ran the election 66,000 times every night" based on the day's data and allocated resources based on likely outcomes. In addition, the demographic information they collected and scored against other factors allowed them to find more targeted ways to buy television advertising to reach their "microtargeted" voters.