Data is Here, Data is There, Data is Everywhere!

Data is here, data is there! So much so that there's possibly no field all across the world that doesn't deal with data. Also, the extent to which this data is increasing exponentially is surely worth a mention. Gone are the days when data was limited to megabytes and gigabytes. Today, every other person talks about data in terabytes and petabytes. This is exactly where big data analytics comes in the picture. Every sector has to deal with data in some form or the other. Following are some sectors that deal with data and can make the best possible use of analytics in the days ahead.

Healthcare: With initiatives like National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat, National Mental Health Program to name a few, India has surely carved a niche when it comes to delivering healthcare services. All of this makes dealing with enormous amounts of data even more obvious. Gone are the days when dealing with all of this data used to be cumbersome. Now, with the always-improving technologies in place, it is easy not only to collect such data but also to come up with relevant critical insights. Since all the major initiatives related to health taken by India have so much to do with data, the fact that all of this does require a methodology to deal with the same cannot be neglected. Having said so, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) has to be one of the most widely used applications that fall under big data analytics. Information about demographics, medical history, allergies, laboratory test results, etc. is recorded and is available for providers from both the public and private sectors.

Apart from this, there's another application that involves analyzing the medical data on the spot and providing health practitioners with advice as they make prescriptive decisions. For example, if a patient's blood pressure increases then a real-time alert can be sent to the doctor who can then reach out to the patient and follow steps to lower the pressure.

Education: India boasts of the world's largest higher education system and that itself throws light on how much data this sector has to deal with on a daily basis. Needless to say, the number of students getting educated is insanely high and so is the data involved. Data about the students' performance, their demographics and other academic information can all be collected. The government can now make use of this data to monitor and predict state-wise figures. Also, planning and allocating the budget is not at all a tough task to deal with using big data analytics.

Banks: Banks form an integral form of our economy, without a doubt. Having said so, it is now time that they move beyond standard business reporting and sales forecasting. Techniques like data mining and predictive analytics can yield exceptional results. It is now possible for banks to extract actionable insights and quantifiable predictions. All of this ultimately pave way for channel transactions, account opening and closing, default, fraud detection and a lot more.

One of the best examples to cite here would be that of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It is using Hadoop technology to manage data (as large as petabytes) for advanced analytics and new regulatory requirements. If on the same lines, Indian banks make extensive use of analytics in operations right from opening accounts to detecting frauds, not only will they save a lot of money and time but will also ensure improved customer satisfaction. Using big data analytics, banks in India can help improve how they segment, target, acquire and retain customers. In addition to this, improvements in areas pertaining to risk management, customer understanding, risk and fraud, etc. can enable them to maintain and grow a more profitable customer base.

Security: Public sector is prone to security threats, for obvious reasons. Big data analytics can play a pivotal role in how the information is collected, analysed and distributed / circulated. Using the right techniques and proper use of analytics, India can deal with circumstances like crime, attacks, and similar unfavourable circumstances.

Though there are a lot more areas where big data analytics can fetch great results but the above-mentioned ones should surely try to inculcate analytics for the results obtained would be totally worth time and also investment.