Big Data in the Modern World

In my last post I discussed the history of Big Data and two of its three phases being structured data and relational databases and the web revolution and unstructured data. The third phase is the modern world of Big Data with the technolgical leap leading to this new phase being the wide scale adoption of mobile technologies and the rapidly expanding internet-of-things. Mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets surpassed the number of laptops and PCs for the first time in 2011. These devices are basically constantly creating data whenever they have power! As well as the take over of mobile devices, the IoT has created a world in which many more devices in a home connect to the network and generate data through sensors. This means each houshold is becoming and endless stream of constantly generated data.

When people use mobile devices they are constanly connecting to the network through apps and standard webpages and producing data to be analysed through behavioural data such as clicks, app usage, and search queries. Not only that, but mobile devices are constantly creating GPS data which can be stored and analysed as well! Many people use their mobile devices for health purposes, or even wearable smart devices, meaning their devices can track physical behaviour, movement, and other health related data specific to their physical bodies. With people spending an average of 4 hours and 37 minutes on their smartphone everyday, the overall picture of people lives extracted from the data their devices create is unprecedented.(1)

As everyone is carrying around devices that are constantly generarting data about them, they are also filling their homes with these devices too. The rise of sensor-based internet-enabled devices has exploded over the last ten years, meaning the sheer volume and variety of data is unlike anything seen in the previous phases. As Big Data technologies get better and better, this kind of real-time data is becoming the one most valuable resources in the world. (2)

All of these new devices constantly producing data has led to an exponential growth in data. In 2006 it was estimated that the amount of data generated was 160 exabytes. In 2025 it is estimated to have risen to 175 zettabytes.(3)

(4)

With this amount of data, its hard to get your head around it. And its also easy to ask, whats the point? Or better yet, whats the value in all this data? This is what I will explore in my next post.

1.https://explodingtopics.com/blog/smartphone-usage-stats

2.https://www.bigdataframework.org/knowledge/a-short-history-of-big-data/

3.https://insights.nikkoam.com/articles/2019/12/whats_causing_the_exponential

4.https://www.bigdataframework.org/knowledge/a-short-history-of-big-data/


Comments

  1. HarryMay 7, 2025 at 8:38 AM

    Great post! They are good examples of how Big Data is collected in the modern world.

    ReplyDelete

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