The Emergence of Big Data: Understanding Diseases and Measuring Our World

Summary

In this article, we discuss the emergence of big data and its impact on understanding diseases and measuring our world. We explore the birth of the idea of a plague curve and the use of numbers to understand diseases. We also introduce an app that allows people to compare and share their lives with each other, as well as a book that tells a story about the world of big data. We conclude by discussing the potential of big data to address some of the biggest problems facing the world today.

The Birth of the Plague Curve
Understanding Diseases through Numbers
Sharing and Comparing Lives with an App
Telling a Story about the World of Big Data
The Potential of Big Data to Address Global Problems

The Birth of the Plague Curve

Ja, a speaker, talks about the significance of being able to watch the course of a disease and use numbers to understand what is happening with it. This marked the first time in human history that a pattern of numbers was used to understand a disease, instead of patterns in the sky or in our hands. This gave birth to the idea of a plague curve, which is a graph that shows the number of cases of a disease over time.

Understanding Diseases through Numbers

The ability to use numbers to understand diseases has revolutionized the way we approach healthcare. By analyzing data, we can predict outbreaks, track the spread of diseases, and develop effective treatments. This has been made possible by the emergence of big data, which refers to the massive amounts of data that are generated and collected every day.

Sharing and Comparing Lives with an App

The speaker introduces an app that allows people to share and compare their daily footprint, what brings them luck, and the one thing they want to experience during their lifetime. By comparing answers with millions of others globally, users can find their data doppelganger, someone just like them somewhere else in the world. The app also donates $1 per download to Charity Water for the first 50,000 downloads as a way to say thank you for participating in the human face of big data.

Telling a Story about the World of Big Data

The speaker acknowledges that the project was made possible by a company called EM, one of the big players in the cloud space and big data world. They are delivering a book to 10,000 key influencers around the world to tell a story about the world of big data. The book does not feature any product placement but instead provides an interesting look at a world that is emerging and has the potential to address some of the biggest problems facing the world today.

The Potential of Big Data to Address Global Problems

The speaker concludes by stating that big data has the potential to address some of the biggest problems facing the world today. By measuring and sensing things in real-time, we can respond to global issues more effectively. The internet was just a stage leading towards big data, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach global problems.

Conclusion

The emergence of big data has revolutionized the way we approach healthcare and global issues. By using numbers to understand diseases, we can predict outbreaks and develop effective treatments. Apps like the one introduced by the speaker allow people to compare and share their lives with others, while books provide an interesting look at the world of big data. With the potential to address some of the biggest problems facing the world today, big data has the power to change the world for the better.