Your Data Is Big, But Is It Thick?
Big data is a big topic in business and is moving into education more and more. At the New Jersey Institute of Technology where I work, there is a certificate program in this area.
I knew this a decade ago as "data mining" and recently I see the term "thick data" being used. As far as I can tell (the term isn't even in Wikipedia yet), that term is taken from other fields, including anthropology. A "thick" description of a human behavior is one that explains not just the behavior, but its context as well, such that the behavior becomes meaningful to an outsider. Thick data is taking big data and giving it context.
Big Data embraces technology, decision-making and public policy. Supplying the technology is a fast-growing market, increasing at more than 30% a year and likely to reach $24 billion by 2016, according to a forecast by IDC, a research firm.
The NJIT certificate focuses on managing and mining Big Data analytics to understand business customers, develop new products and cut operational costs. Most of the jobs emerging in Big Data require knowledge of programming and the ability to develop applications, as well as an understanding of how to meet business needs. I can see people currently working in computing as candidates for this program.
What about in education? The skills most often mentioned in connection with Big Data jobs include math, statistics, data analysis, business analytics and natural language processing. Those are not skills I associate with most educators. Who will put the Big Data into that Thick Data context for education?
The NJIT certificate focuses on managing and mining Big Data analytics to understand business customers, develop new products and cut operational costs. Most of the jobs emerging in Big Data require knowledge of programming and the ability to develop applications, as well as an understanding of how to meet business needs. I can see people currently working in computing as candidates for this program.
What about in education? The skills most often mentioned in connection with Big Data jobs include math, statistics, data analysis, business analytics and natural language processing. Those are not skills I associate with most educators. Who will put the Big Data into that Thick Data context for education?
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