Future Trends, Privacy and Managerial Considerations in Analytics

Learning Objectives for Chapter 8

▪ Explore some of the emerging technologies that may impact analytics, business intelligence (BI), and decision support

▪ Describe the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon, potential applications, and the IoT ecosystem

▪ Describe the current and future use of cloud computing in business analytics

▪ Describe how geospatial and location-based analytics are assisting organizations

▪ Describe the organizational impacts of analytics applications

▪ List and describe the major ethical and legal issues of analytics implementation

▪ Identify key characteristics of a successful data science professional

Chapter Overview

This chapter introduces several emerging technologies that are likely to have major impacts on the development and use of business intelligence (BI) applications. In a dynamic area such as analytics, the terms also evolve and overlap. As noted earlier, we can refer to these technologies as BI, analytics, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive computing, Big Data, or by several other labels. Our goal is not to focus on subtle differences among each, but to look at the collection as one big constellation. We focus on some trends that have already been realized and others that are about to impact analytics further. Using a crystal ball is always a risky proposition, but this chapter provides an analysis of some growing areas. We introduce and explain some emerging technologies and explore their current applications. We then discuss the organizational, personal, legal, ethical, and societal impacts of analytical support systems and issues that should be of importance to managers and professionals in analytics. This chapter contains the following sections:

Chapter Outline

8.1 Opening Vignette: Analysis of Sensor Data Helps Siemens Avoid Train Failures

8.2 Internet of Things

8.3 Cloud Computing and Business Analytics

8.4 Location-Based Analytics for Organizations

8.5 Issues of Legality, Privacy, and Ethics

8.6 Impacts of Analytics in Organizations: An Overview

8.7 Data Scientist as a Profession