Big data generated from different kinds of sensors is an area of growing interest due to the immense possibilities it offers to all organizations because of the tacit knowledge embedded in it be it about customers, employees or society in general. Understanding the customer is of central interest to any organization, and location intelligence enriches it with information about demographics, lifestyles etc. which can be inferred from the spatial data. It helps in customer profiling and segmentation thereby contributing to Business Intelligence and strategic planning. While search applications simply aimed at providing the relevant information back to the user, location intelligence proactively reaches out to the consumer and makes them aware about these services. Big Data platforms can also make it possible to club location intelligence with customer intelligence, thereby customizing and personalizing offerings for each individual. Not restricted to the consumer alone, organizations are also getting increasingly interested in the consumer as a social being, where the interest lies in understanding the consumer’s interactions with his or her social connections. Big data is also finding increasing uses at enterprise level decision making and strategy planning. Retailers are increasingly using location intelligence to determine profitable locations for new stores or product planning. Big data analytics is also used for more efficient demand forecast even before opening a store without the need for site-visits, based on local demographics, economic data and geographic factors like transportation access, the location of competitors and site sustainability. Big data from consumer mobile devices is also seen as an enabler to design and optimize sales territory and improve sales force productivity. Data on customer density, travel times between different sites, the locations of customers with high buying potential and other factors can be brought together and analysed to ensure that territories are set up to reach customers both effectively and efficiently.
Health-care and Internet of Things Healthcare industry has also seen great opportunity in locationaware devices and the big data generated thereof. The main goals here are to improve the quality, consistency and timeliness of Dr. Lipika medical services.Dey This sector offers a win-win situation for both the health-care providers and those who avail the service namely the patients. Since loyalty and trust forms the basis of relationship in this sector which only matures with time and knowledge, complete historical medical data about patients holds the key to a successful relationship. Sensor implantation has reduced the need for hospitalization for non-critical patients who may need monitoring but only for pre-emptive purposes. This often includes geriatrics, infants and people with special needs. However, the monitoring can now go on remotely and continuous real-time sensor data analytics at the hospital servers are able to detect discrepancies and predict disasters well in advance. The servers then automatically generate alarms and alerts for all concerned including the medical practitioner who may be at a different geographical location from the patient. Doctors are also excited about the possibility of using Big Data
based Intelligence about new patients based on their past medical history and other information like their demographic dispositions, life-style factors and psycho-social make-up based on data gathered from publicly available non-medical sources like social-media. The knowledge helps doctors toprepare themselves even before a patient has walked into their premises, thereby making it possible to gather much more information during the interaction than would be possible in a completely unknown set-up. It is also providing patients with the facility to compare and contrast treatments given to others with similar conditions and share experiences. It is also possible for them to gather information about medical practitioners and make more informed judgments. In each case, big data is offering “clinical intelligence” that is making it easier for both patients and doctors to handle complex scenarios, ideally resulting in improved healthcare for more with fewer medical errors and faster feedback loops to learn about errors and rectify. Just like actionable business intelligence, sensor data has reduced the time to actionability effectively in the health care industry.
Social Media as a Predictive Indicator The perception of Social Media has totally changed from being a platform for entertainment to a gold-mine of information. At any time-point, the social media is viewed as a snap-shot that effectively captures the world-psyche - complete with information about events happening all around the world along with people’s reaction to them. Hence, when analysed correctly, it also becomes a very effective predictor for the future events. Some of the recent successes in this direction include Google’s efforts in predicting the spread of flu across various geographies based on analysing the trends in search queries related to Flu originating from those locations. Predicting spread of epidemics has also been attempted through analysis of tweets and location intelligence which track people’s travel to and from infected areas. Social media analysis has also redefined Competitive Intelligence gathering principles for enterprises. Tracking competitor promotions and customer reactions to those, helps an organization to get better understanding of competitor strengths and weaknesses. It is also possible to have better prediction of demand for their own products thereby optimizing profit.
Utilitarian Sectors and Big Data Social computing has added a completely new dimension to supply chain management. Manufacturers who work with suppliers located few continents apart have traditionally faced huge risks due to ignorance about potentially disruptive events like natural disasters, political unrest, terrorist attacks, labour strikes, fires in factories etc., some of which were locally reported but almost never reported in International News and most of which were never reported anywhere. However, location-based social media applications like Twitter or its equivalent have proved to be a gold-mine with information about all major and minor events being reported by citizens. Intelligent information fusion platforms collect such informationand analyse them in conjunction with enterprise data like location of suppliers or partners for
October 2013 | Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs Magazine
21