10 Revealing TED Talks on Big Data and Analytics

Dive deeper into the fascinating world of big data analytics by learning from these knowledgeable experts.

The rise of the computing age gave humans the ability to collect more information than they ever thought possible. Data is everywhere, but finding insights and plans of action from these massive amounts of information has created a unique challenge.

Welcome to the fascinating world of big data analytics. Learn how the smartest business leaders, entrepreneurs, data analysts, and everyday people can benefit from harnessing the power of big data.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events to help share ideas in communities around the world.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 TED Talks on the fascinating topic of Big Data Analytics!

1. ‘The birth of a word’: Deb Roy (19:52)

MIT researcher and CEO and co-founder of Bluefin Labs, Deb Roy wanted to understand how human language is formed. His background in human cognition and machine learning prompted him to embark on a unique experiment with his own son. Over the course of three years, Roy compiled 90,000 hours of video and 140,000 hours of audio data that helped map out the origin of a word.

This innovative linguistic experiment has since expanded into the world of mass media. The implications for big data-driven applications continue to show how humans learn and interact on a global platform.
https://youtu.be/RE4ce4mexrU

2. ‘The beauty of Data Visualization’: David McCandless (18:17)

Data journalist, David McCandless, had a very important question to answer when it comes to complicated data. What does it all mean? He set out to transform complex data like military spending, media hits, and Face-book status updates into easy-to-understand diagrams. He believes changing data into visual landscapes is the best way to navigate, analyze, and understand big data. Data visualization is the future of how we interpret and react to data patterns in our own lives.
https://youtu.be/5Zg-C8AAIGg

3. ‘What we learned from 5 million books’: Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel (14:08)

Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden of the Harvard Cultural Observatory, set out to study human history, culture, and language with the help of big data analytics. With the help of Google Labs’ NGram Viewer, they were able to make fascinating connections on the evolution of cultural trends. Their research, through the help of quantitative methods, displays the power that big data analytics has on the development of human ideas.
https://youtu.be/5l4cA8zSreQ

4. Big Data, Better Data: Kenneth Cukier (15:55)

As the Data Editor of ‘The Economist’, Kenneth Cukier is very familiar with the power of big data. He believes that the power of data allows us to see ‘different’. What exactly does that mean? Cukier answers this question by showing everybody the immense global impact that rides on the future of big data analytics and machine learning. Learn how humans can turn static data into something that is fluid and dynamic.
https://youtu.be/8pHzROP1D-w

5. What to do with Big Data: Susan Etlinger (12:27)

Susan Etlinger, an industry analyst with the Altimeter Group, loves big data and its use in market analytics. As we receive more and more data, Susan reminds us that it is important to think critically about that data. As she states, “Facts are stupid things”, and we have the challenge to create meaning out data sets. In this talk, she challenges us to go beyond the data and truly understand it.
https://youtu.be/AWPrOvzzqZk

6. How data can revolutionize the business arena: Philip Evans (13:57)

Philip Evens, a senior partner at the ‘Boston Consulting Group’, lets the audience know of the importance that big data analytics has in the business world. In this discussion, he unities two key ideas in business strategy, Bruce Henderson’s ‘increasing returns to scale’ and Michael Porter’s ‘value chain’. Evans explores the notion that big data is the next big step in the evolution of forming new competitive advantages in business.
https://youtu.be/EHTmxmuhZ10

7. Smart statistics help you fight crime: Anne Milgram (12:41)

Anne Milgram, the attorney general of New Jersey in 2007, looks into the key role big data analytics could play in criminal prosecution. She wanted to understand who they were arresting, who they were charging, and who they were putting in our nation’s jails. In her discussion, she believes that crime cannot be solved on insights and instincts alone. She reiterates the importance of using big data analytic techniques to solve and prevent crime.
https://youtu.be/ZJNESMhIxQ0

8. Cathy O’Neil: The era of blind faith in big data must end (13:18)

Mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals the problem with relying too much on Big Data. In her discussion, she asks the question, “What if the algorithms are wrong?” Departments and companies that rely too much on data algorithms are creating unfair bias in the workplace. Learn more about how these unfair algorithms are what she calls, “weapons of math destruction”.
https://www.ted.com/talks/cathy_o_neil_the_era_of_blind_faith_in_big_data_must_end

9. ‘Relationship Analytics & Business’: Zack Johnson (14:46)

Zack Johnson is the co-founder of Syndio Social— a company that helps organizations adopt change. Adopting change can be the difference between organizations making billions of dollars or being obsolete. In his discussion, Zack mentions the importance of how social network analysis reveals better and more efficient practices for businesses. Learn more about the fascinating world of relationship analytics.
https://youtu.be/MLaQotcqOxo

10. Human-Computer Cooperation: Shyam Sankar (12:12)

Shayam Sankar is the director of Palantir Technologies—a data analysis firm that helps businesses use data analytics to sustain a competitive advantage. In this discussion he explains why relying on brute force computing is not efficient. He proposes that algorithms and computing power need human cooperation to make clearer more accurate results. Learn more about how man and machine cooperation will deliver the best insights.
https://youtu.be/ltelQ3iKybU

Unlock the potential of big data

As these experts have mentioned, big data is all around us. To gain value and insight from big data analytics, organizations need the ability not just to process the vast quantities of data being generated, but also to blend the right datasets together to give context and meaning. Big data goes beyond business intelligence and analytics, identifying which people or machines in your organization need the insight and how to get it to them at speed and securely is the difference between competitive advantage and increased operational costs.

(C to A) Your business is special and so is your data. Let the analytics experts at QAT Global create real-time insights that will give your business the ultimate competitive advantage over the competition.