INDUSTRY FOCUS
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THE VOLUME OF DATA CREATED BY INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES IS GROWING AT AN UNPRECEDENTED RATE. As we increasingly do more using technology, we build up vast stores of information that can be mined to bring about cost reductions, greater operational efficiencies and new business opportunities. According to the consulting firm
‘The recognition by Government of big data as an area of growth is important for Ireland. In making it a priority area for support, they are strengthening the ecosystem out there for big data’
McKinsey, global data volumes are growing by as much as 40pc a year. This is leading not just to the creation of a multi-billion dollar industry, but also to a lot of excitement among those who stand to gain from being able to effectively exploit information that has been captured, stored, organised, communicated and analysed. ‘Big data’ is the term typically used to describe the growth
Donal Flavin, vice-president of the information and communication technologies division, IDA
technology centre for data analytics that is based in University College Dublin (UCD), is hesitant about using the term big data as he thinks it can be slightly misleading. “Big data is actually quite a new term
that was only really coined around 2011,” he explains. “It is really just naming a concept that has been around for a long time. What is important to note is that the volume of data isn’t so important as what’s done with it. I prefer the term data analytics as I think it’s more clearly focused. “There are certainly big opportunities from data analytics, but it is more a
and availability of large volumes of information. It isn’t just industry experts who predict a rosy future for it. The Irish Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013, published earlier this year, identified big data as one of the areas where Ireland has distinct advantages compared to other countries. The Government has since set up a task force to investigate
the benefits of big data. It is comprised of representatives from relevant State bodies as well as senior industry figures from both Irish and multinational companies. Core members include Liam Casey, founder of PCH; John Herlihy head of Google Ireland; and Heather Reynolds, co-founder of Eishtec. Although much of the potential arising from exploiting
data has yet to be realised, some organisations are already benefiting from it. Take Google, for example – it has become rich from mining information about how individuals and companies use search, and selling it on to advertisers. Other winners include sports teams that have successfully used data to monitor how their players are doing on the field. Padraig Cunningham, lead principal investigator at the Centre for Applied Data Analytics Research (CeADAR), a
promise than a reality at the moment. It is hard to point to many examples of data being mined effectively outside of what the likes of firms such as Google and Facebook are doing in gathering information that can be used to sell to advertisers. But the potential is limitless.”
L–R: Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD; Jennifer Condon; manager, internationally traded services and software, Enterprise Ireland; and Jason Ward, director, EMC Ireland, Scotland and UK North at the ‘Unlocking Big Data’ summit earlier this year
Issue 7 Autumn/Winter 2013 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 21
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