Small Data Group

If the desire to make analytics more accessible and actionable for everyday tasks helped kickstart the small data movement, the growing focus on the best ways to access/manage/visualize IoT devices and data offers to shift the small data discussion into hyperdrive. In fact, over the past couple months we’ve seen some great posts and discussions related to why small data is essential to harnessing the power of IoT. Here’s a review of 5 of them, including my latest article on the potential of new types of embedded intelligence. Enjoy!

1. Forbes.com – Forget Big Data – Small Data Is Driving The Internet Of Things – in this compelling, concise piece by Mike Kavis, he talks about the value of a hybrid small (and big) data approach when dealing with sensor data. His perspective:

“Small data knows what a tracked object is doing. If you want to understand why the object is doing that, then big data is what you seek.”

2. Economic Times (India) – EMC bets on ‘small data’ for future growth – interesting interview with EMC exec Guy Churchward, who argues that billions of interconnected devices like driverless cars will create “small data sprawl” – requiring new tools and approaches unavailable today.

3. Enterprise Apps Today – How IoT Will Change Big Data Analytics – in this roundup article there’s a number of scenarios, including a pretty cool section with an AT&T executive who points out the importance of information management:

“…determining what type of data is important, what should be transmitted immediately, what should be stored and for how long, and what information should be discarded. Otherwise, you could end up with an almost infinite pile of data to analyze, when only a relatively small portion is of real importance.”

4. Logistics Viewpoints – The Benefits of “Small Data” in Logistics – it’s always good to sample specialty industry perspectives, and this one features some good insights from ARC Advisory expert Ralph Rio, who talks about a “small data within Big Data” approach.

5. CTOVision.com – Beyond the IoT Buzz Is A New Horizon of Embedded Intelligence, Information Flows and Seriously Smart Apps – my latest op-ed for CTOvision, where I look at requirements for becoming data driven and some of our learnings from working with device data, including the role of new wearable computers as sources AND destinations for small data:

“…consumer wearables and other mobile devices have a dual role in this scenario as they not only create data, but they also consume (and display) it.”

What other articles or perspectives did I miss? I’d love to hear your ideas!

And if you are in London, Munich, Paris, New York or Toronto over the next few weeks and want to see our latest IoT demos in action, my team and I will be presenting at the OpenText Innovation Tour 2015 events – if you are interested in attending, check out the schedule here.