Book Review: Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier,Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live,Work and Think

The last 25 years have been a mute testimony to major natural and man-made catastrophes and upheavals such as Gujarat Earthquake in 1991, Latur Earthquake in 1993, Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, floods and landslides in Uttarakhand in 2013, ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (long time President of Tunisia) in 2011, anti-government protests in Libya which began in 2011, civil wars, military interventions and several transnational organized crimes. Our country has also suffered due to major scams such as IPO scam in 2006, Madhu Koda and Satyam scams in 2009, the 2G scam in 2010. The point of interest is that in all of the aforementioned devastations, there was big data which was shouting (or crying) loudly but either the authorities could not understand/hear/observe or were late in understanding due to which the country and her citizens have lost billions or even trillions of opportunities. Perhaps it may not be wrong to say that data will define and redefine our future. The people who can make sense of the available data and who can make the data make sense will undoubtedly play an important role in the days to come. In no way do I intend saying that a deep understanding of the big data around us will help in averting mishaps but it will certainly help in reducing the damage and collateral damage that human beings and countries suffer. The enthralling tome under review will undoubtedly help the reader in gaining a deeper understanding of how big data can be used for risk identification, analysis and assessment, risk mitigation and risk reduction.

It took about 75 years for the telephone to connect 50 million people. The radio took 38 years to reach 50 million people. The television took 13 years to reach 50 million people. The Internet zoomed to 100 million people in less than 5 years ¹ (a medium is said to be a mass medium when it reaches 50 million people). It might not be wrong to say that perhaps, now, the Internet is the shortest distance between two points on planet earth, and Google, Wikipedia are the largest sources of data and information—such huge amounts of data and information that it is practically impossible for a single human being to comprehend the entire information that is available. But at the same time, technology can be used for using the big data for bringing about the much-needed reforms. Statistics, extrapolations and counting by Radicati Group estimate the number of emails sent per day (in 2010) to be around 294 billion. ² That is surely a huge number. And from the afore-mentioned statistics, the truth emerges that the world is accelerating towards a digital revolution which is causing a communication revolution which can be used by companies for a corporate revolution which can lead to a technological singularity which can change the course of the world (positively) in more ways than one, and that is precisely what the work under review deals with.

Who coined the term ‘big data’ and what does ‘Big Data’ precisely mean? How does the era of big-data challenge the way we live and interact with the world? How can big data be used in making wise decisions and comprehending reality? Can Google predict the spread of winter flu in a country, not just at a national level, but down to specific regions and even states (that too without buccal-swab tests and without contacting the offices of the physicians)? How can big data be used as a source of new economic value and innovation? Are there any differences between hypothesis-driven world and data-driven world? Can a household’s energy usage reveal private information related to daily behaviour, health conditions or impairment, or illegal activities such as drug abuse! Can a user/consumer be identified even if he/she chooses not to disclose his name, age, contact number and address? Can the right use of big data prevent a nuclear armageddon? Through 10 captivating chapters which provide new and newer insights, the work under review provides lucid answers to the aforementioned perplexing queries.

The first chapter dwells on the concept of ‘big data’, the transformation of data from analogue to digital, and how ‘big data’ is influencing the fundamental aspects of life. The second chapter examines the benefits of examining all the data because sampling might imply missing out vital elements which contain the real answer/picture. The chapter explains how it can be determined whether sumo-wrestling matches have been fixed or not? The third chapter delves deep into the trade-off between collecting vast volumes of data and laying emphasis on the strict exactitude of data. The chapter brings out the facts due to which human beings will not be able to outplay the computer in a game of chess. It also lists the salient features of IBM’s Candide project and Google’s translation project which can translate sentences of more than 60 languages. The fourth chapter performs an in-depth examination of the concept of correlation. The fifth chapter lays bare the differences between digitization and datafication. The chapter describes a splendid research wherein a Japanese professor laid the foundation of the development of one of the anti-theft systems (used in cars) simply by collecting data from the contours and postures of the human body. The chapter contains several illustrations that exemplify how scientists/companies are picking up data from the human body and then quantifying the data. The sixth chapter is a treatise on the various uses, reuses and option value of data. The chapter contains examples drawn from the industry which illustrate that ‘bad’, ‘incorrect’ or even ‘defective’ data can be of immense use. The seventh chapter describes three types of big-data companies, a new profession which has emerged recently, thanks to the new and newer technologies and the big-data value chain. The eighth chapter examines the threats posed by big data and the perils of using big data even with the noble intention of forestalling crimes! The ninth chapter dwells on the changes in legal statutes pertaining to big data that might become mandatory in future. The tenth chapter examines big data and the significance of accuracy, exactitude, cleanliness, rigour of data. It also discusses the importance of people, accountability and the use of big data as a resource and tool.

The book contains factual elements of information. For instance on page 9, the author states: ‘The amount of stored information grows four times faster than the world economy, while the processing power of computers grows nine times faster.’ On Page 68, the author states: ‘There are 94,000 miles of underground cables in New York City, enough to wrap around the Earth three and a half times.’ Page 99 contains an interesting statement ‘The minimum wage in the United States was $7.25 an hour in 2012.’ On page 171, the author states ‘Cambridge University began the fifteenth century with a mere 122 tomes.’ The book traces the flow of data and information which a few centuries ago was like a drip and now is in the form of a cloudburst influencing several aspects of our life in sundry ways. The book contains brilliant examples drawn from world-renowned companies such as Google, Walmart, United Parcel Service Inc., Apple, Microsoft and the work of some of the foremost scientists such as Oren Etzioni (computer scientist), Peter Norvig (an artificial intelligence expert who is naturally intelligent), Steven Levitt (a famed economist), Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (an authority on the science of network theory), Michele Banko and Eric Brill (researchers at Microsoft), Daniel Kahneman (Nobel laureate), Luis von Ahn (creator of Captcha—Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart, and ReCaptcha) and several others of their ilk. The reader will be rewarded with a few moments which provide deep insights into the building and functioning of some of the most complex systems, for instance the systems adopted by some of the leading airlines, hotels, etc. The book will of immense help to the champions of business analytics, marketing research, uncertainty in decision-making, price discovery, marketing management, social engineering and policymakers.