
Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities

GM and Ford in the automobile industry, may not have direct exposure to their customers in car sales, but they learn a lot about customers through credit card relationships.
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
Now, however, in a business unit called Precision Market Insights, Verizon is selling information about how often mobile phone users are in certain locations and their activities and backgrounds. Customers thus far have included malls, stadium owners, and billboard firms.
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
At any given time, there are about 56 million passenger name records active within its system.10
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
Some data visualization programs now select the most appropriate visual display for the type of data and number of variables. Of
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
A Data Hub was organized to facilitate sharing of data, algorithms, and insights.
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
They may have established a conventional information infrastructure for internal applications like general ledger and payroll, but they didn’t spend a lot of time or attention on it. Their focus was almost exclusively on big data, and
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
It works with airlines, for example, on how to optimize their websites through testing of different versions, and what customer preferences are for booking channels, kiosks versus human agents at airports, baggage check-in times, and many other issues. In addition to the passenger and flight records in its own systems, the company collects data on
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People You May Know (PYMK) feature. As many readers will know from having used it, PYMK suggests to LinkedIn members (customers) some other members that they may want to connect with. PYMK employs a multifactor approach to identify possible new connections, including shared schools, workplaces, connections, and geographies.
Thomas H. Davenport • Big Data at Work: Dispelling the Myths, Uncovering the Opportunities
The analytics, algorithms, and user interfaces must be connected to provide new methods to interact with and support the “human in the loop.” Perhaps some of this push toward automation is being driven by the fact that at least one “human in the loop” in the intelligence