A world built of data: Introduction

• Storing and processing data inside computers has changed us as individuals and as a society
• Governments, companies and other computer users use data associated with you to determine everything from your income, your health, your likelihood to commit crimes or whether or not they want to be your friend
• Some data you create consciously; such as when you post on social media. Other data is created whenever you open a bank account, enrol on a module, shop using a store loyalty card, and so on. And yet more data is created without your knowledge by companies and governments who monitor your interactions with computers
• Bank notes and coins do not hold any personal information
• Various organisations (including my bank, favourite shops and airlines, museum and coffee shop) all hold some data about me
• Different organisations each have very different views of me
• Databases made it possible to query huge collections of data to find individual pieces of data or uncover subtle patterns within the data at very high speed
• Databases have revolutionised almost every part of our life, from travel and shopping to identifying criminals, providing better healthcare and supporting scientific investigations
• Databases underpin most businesses as well as a large part of the internet
• Modern technology now allows us to collect and process an almost unimaginable amount of data, ranging from the latest scientific investigations into space, physics and genetics through to everyday tasks such as identifying traffic flows in cities and helping us find useful websites
• This volume of data requires new approaches, so we will explore exactly how computer scientists are using big data to help scientists, engineers, healthcare specialists, businesses – and the rest of us – solve a new generation of problems