Big data analytics is the use of advanced analytic techniques against very large, diverse big data sets that include structured, semi-structured and unstructured data, from different sources, and in different sizes from terabytes to zettabytes.

What is big data exactly? It can be defined as data sets whose size or type is beyond the ability of traditional relational databases to capture, manage and process the data with low latency. Characteristics of big data include high volume, high velocity and high variety. Sources of data are becoming more complex than those for traditional data because they are being driven by artificial…

From past performance patterns to potential holiday trends, discover Black Friday statistics to help you conquer the busiest sales day of the year.

Black Friday 2020 will, undoubtedly, be one for the books. With several industries feeling the pains of the pandemic lockdowns around the world, the busiest shopping weekend of the year is slated to be a make-or-break for many retailers.

While the landscape continues to change and it can be difficult to predict what the future holds — some industries are still seeing a surprising rise in ecommerce sales while other historically successful verticals struggle to stay afloat…

State of Play

According to Nick Bostrom, any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in all domains is superintelligent. Similarly, Mark Tegmark defines a Artificial General Intelligence(AGI) as the ability to accomplish any cognitive task at least as well as humans.

While many policy makers see the question of AGI as science fiction, huge investments are made into researching it. For example, DeepMind — developers of the Go-champion AI AlphaGo and bought by Google for 500 million USD — spends up to 200 million USD each year to come closer to that goal. OpenAI, funded with an Endowment of 1…

State of Play

AI and geopolitics have an interesting relationship: First, AI, like space exploration during the cold war, is used as a projection space for a power competition by the two main players, China and the US. Second, like dreadnoughts and nuclear weapons before, AI pledges to increase geopolitical power both in terms of influence and military power.

In his book “AI Superpowers”, Kai-Fu Lee tells the story of how official China was shocked when a US AI beat the best Asian players in Go. China also realised that AI gave it the chance to become leader in an important technology by…

State of Play

AI and Big Data has already changed the economy. They made available new consumer goods (e.g. Alexa) and services (e.g. traffic or translation apps). They have also advanced the productivity of entire markets, such as finance, health care or manufacturing. AI interacts with other high-tech innovations such as cognitive sciences, biotech or nanotech. Finally, AI led robotics assist or replace humans in difficult, dirty, dull or dangerous work.

In the wake of Big Data, the role of data has changed dramatically:

“From power grids and water systems to hospitals, public transportation, and road networks, the growth of real-time data is…

State of Play

AI and Big Data have already proven to be powerful forces for good and bad, but both technologies pose inherent policy challenges that make some contemplate regulation:

The (self-) learning process of AI is opaque, as is Big Data’s ability to piece together conclusions from disparate sources. Sometimes these processes behave like a black-box, where input and output correlations are difficult to understand. This means their actions are no longer open to scrutiny by humans to the extent they were used to with “normal” machines. …

This paper addresses the present state of play and future trends, uncertainties and possible disruptions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data in the following areas:

Political: AI is biased, difficult to scrutinise and to estimate its power, and — more so when embodied in autonomous systems — potentially dangerous. Policy responses are accountability, transparency, safety and control, and public debate. These should be based on ethics. AI will lead to better governance, more debate, new policy actors and processes, a contest over centralisation, and the EU catching up. AI might progress in a revolutionary or evolutionary mode, lead to…

ADP, Delos, and the City of New York share their experiences working with design thinking teams from IBM.

It is not enough to think about digital transformation when rival organizations are busy executing. Implementing such plans at scale can be a challenge though, and IBM recently shared some examples of the work it does to help enterprises change at the nimble pace of startups.

The IBM Garage pairs the company’s personnel with client organizations for design thinking sessions and other collaborations to drive transformation plans. …