Big data takes huge quantities of disparate data and puts it together for analysis. The information can come from all sorts of places: e-mails, online articles, comments on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+, videos, photos, audio files or even measurement values. But wherever the information has come from, the aim remains the same – to spot patterns. But since these data sets are so huge and unordered, you can’t expect to make sense of them with a traditional database or conventional analysis tools. Now new data mining tools and techniques are to make these mountains of data useful and manageable. The intention is to use the insights gained commercially.
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Smart Data – The stuff innovations are made of
Digital data play an essential role in the design, planning and control of industrial processes. As well as being needed as input, data are also generated and output in large quantities and can be utilized to develop new products, services, and business models. Fraunhofer collaborates with numerous companies in projects to develop concepts and methods that will enable the digital treasure trove to be utilized in a secure environment, thereby extracting more added value from industrial processes.