Big Data is Big Business
15 Apr 2014 04:28 PM
Is there an app for that?
Big
data is big business, with the British government estimating that it will have
created 58,000 new jobs and added £216 billion to the UK economy by 2017.
The UK has vast data sets that are open for public use, generated through
world-class research activity and data-intensive public sector organisations.
Research has shown that allowing unfettered access is likely to stimulate novel
uses of the data, resulting in the emergence of many new companies selling new
services.
Big
data is defined by its three challenging characteristics – volume,
velocity and variety. In general it is not public demand that drives computing
advances, but the requirements of researchers to collect, store and manipulate
increasingly large and complex datasets. Big science projects such as those
supported by STFC have consistently pushed the boundaries of data volumes and
complexity, serving as ‘stretch goals’ that drive technical
innovation.
Earlier this month ESA launched the Sentinel 1a
satellite on behalf of the EU. Sentinel 1a is the first satellite in the
planned Copernicus programme, which aims to build the most comprehensive
Earth-observation system in the world. Sentinel 1a’s task is radar
mapping, and its key role is to provide rapid damage maps to help the emergency
services deal with disasters such as earthquakes and severe floods. It will
also be able to monitor coastal waters for oil spills (or icebergs) and
investigate subsidence.
The
amount of new data Sentinel 1a produces will be prodigious – 600
gigabytes per orbit, or about 2.5 terabytes every day. When the full complement
of Sentinel satellites is in place, that figure is expected to rise to 8
terabytes per day. Dealing with this amount of data has required considerable
investment in computer processing power and storage on the ground, but the aim
of Sentinel is that it will be able to return data to Earth much faster than
existing satellites, which store data to be sent down when they pass over a
ground station. The European Data Relay System will use lasers to transmit data
within minutes, rather than hours, meaning that Sentinel 1a could be used for
flood prediction as well as flood monitoring.
With five more launches planned by 2019, Copernicus will
have many uses, including climate studies and monitoring fish stocks, air
quality and waste disposal. All of Copernicus’ data will be open, and
freely available. It’s hard to imagine the range of applications it could
be used for, but it is anticipated that the Copernicus programme will give rise
to around 48,000 jobs by 2030. The vision is for Copernicus to be an open-ended
programme, with satellites being replaced as they reach the end of their
lifespan and more Sentinel series to come.
The
Sentinel 2 series will add high-resolution optical images of Earth to the data
set, and the Sentinel 3 mission will include the Sea and Land Surface
Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR), an instrument capable of making highly accurate
measurements of global surface temperatures. RAL Space is playing a key role in
the design process for the SLSTR, and will build a dedicated facility for
pre-flight calibration activities. Sentinel 4 and 5 will be dedicated to
atmospheric monitoring.
The
Copernicus programme is just one source of data among many, and the UK
government and research community are committed to making these big datasets
available for the benefit of our society and economy. The Big Innovation Centre
and STFC are running a free, one-day event that aims to remove the barriers for
companies to access this open data and reveals how to extract value and insight
for the benefit of your company, whatever its size or business
sectors.
The
‘UK Big Data: free and open data available for
businesses’ event is taking place on Tuesday 6th May at Harwell,
Oxford. By the end of the day you will be equipped with expert guidance on how
to take advantage of the data sets on offer, as well as introduced to enabling
funding schemes and organisations that can help you to take raw data and make
it into something valuable. There will be presentations from the UK’s
Research Councils, the Public Data Group companies, the Technology Strategy
Board and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult. The event also includes a
panel session and networking lunch, providing an opportunity to discuss your
needs, potential projects or collaborations with peers and
experts.
Click through to find out more and information and
register your free place via Eventbrite; registration closes on 1st May
2014.