Big Data: a change of paradigm can hide another – Opportunities and threats related to the emergence of new ecosystems

21 Oct Big Data: a change of paradigm can hide another – Opportunities and threats related to the emergence of new ecosystems

National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF)
2015

Big Data implies a revolution in IT, reaching from technology to applications and practices, enabling the analysis of vast pools of « digital traces » to know customer intentions with unmatched precision. Data manipulation from smartphones and connected objects opens up new service opportunities and significant cost reductions of information systems.  While it is a major issue for sciences, politics and citizens, this report looks at the impact on businesses: mastering these methods permits a new immediacy in customer relationships and may leave enterprises less vulnerable to the GAFAs. Big data is:

• a disruptive data-analysis methodology, in particular in marketing, replacing classic approaches by iterative loops in which detected patterns are immediately confronted with situations of implementation and judgement on operational effectiveness.
• a new way of massive parallel data-centred programming and of designing algorithms, due to the: – treatment on a myriad of machines, – high-performance requirements and – need to develop algorithms through learning.
• a major challenge and paradigm shift for Governments and companies, deserving strong support in terms of training and awareness. Technology and practice play key roles; new ways of working with an extremely wide scope need to be developed.

Rapporteur : Yves Caseau, Director Digital Agency, Axa Group, and Fellow of NATF