Big Data - Where are the Boundaries?
Jinfo Blog

By Keith Cooper

Abstract

Big data is, by definition, big. But what do we mean by "big"? Keith Cooper, CEO of Connotate, explains how setting boundaries and having clear business goals is essential when working on big data projects.

Item

The term "big data" encourages big thinking. FreePint's interview with Keith Cooper, CEO of web data extraction company Connotate, suggests just how big such big thinking can get.

Keith says:

"Our vision is to make the internet your own proprietary database. Anything that you want that’s out there, any piece of data, call it “big data”, call it whatever you want… it doesn’t matter what it is, what language, what geography, what industry; you can tap into it easily, effectively, efficiently and get that data to where it needs to be in order to make good decisions. That’s what we’re trying to do, and it yields all sorts of interesting opportunities."

The full Q&A with Keith touches on a range of topics relevant to information professionals looking for practical guidance on a topic that can be vague and hard to put boundaries around. One of Keith's pieces of advice is to focus on those boundaries: define the business case and specific desired outcomes for any project involving big data principles. Just because you have the technological capability to gather and analyse more data doesn't mean doing so will yield better business results.

"We always start with this question: 'What’s the problem you’re really trying to solve?'" Keith notes. 

FreePint Subscribers can read the full interview by logging in to view The Importance of Context in Search and Big Data.

Editor's Note: Big Data in Action

This article is part of the FreePint Topic Series: Big Data in Action, which includes articles, reports, webinars and resources published between April and June 2013. Learn more about the series here.

« Blog