Today, big data is considered to be the largest commodity in the world, according to The Economist.¹ It’s predicted to be bigger than oil, gold or any other “valuable” asset we currently hold in the highest regard. But who controls the flow of that data is a topic of controversy and concern. Apex corporations, such as Google®, Amazon® and Facebook®, possess data that can be used to gain insights into the consumer mind and economic trends as never before.
With this valuable new commodity comes the need for people who know how to mine and manage big data from sources such as multimedia, social media and the Internet of Things in ways that are profitable and predictive over the long term. With the current rate of data exchange at approximately 27,000 gigabytes (the equivalent of 121 million books) being communicated every second,² the capability of predicting one’s behavior is possibly more valuable than just knowing it in the moment.
With STEM majors continuously on the rise, people with undergrad degrees in statistics, mathematics or computer science are a natural fit to pursue a graduate degree in data science and enter the fast-paced, growing industry of big data.