Big data could be bigger than cloud and generate Irish jobs – EMC
Jason Ward, EMC's country manager for Ireland

Big data could be bigger than cloud and generate Irish jobs – EMC

17 Apr 2012

Move over, cloud computing. There’s a new global IT phenomenon, big data, that poses major job-creation opportunities for Ireland, says Jason Ward, EMC’s country manager for Ireland.

Big data consists of large amounts of information that can be captured, stored, organised, communicated and analysed.

Users of smartphones and social networks, as well as large files, such as medical records and multimedia, are feeding the growth of big data, which, EMC says, is now part of every sector and function of the global economy.

“Big data analytics can become a new jobs-rich source of activity for Ireland’s economy, creating demand for advanced IT skills in the form of data scientists who can map marketplace behaviour,” Ward says.

‘If Irish businesses and public-sector organisations invest in technology that can manage, store and analyse huge volumes of information, allowing them to cross-reference and compare data sets, the way we work and live will be transformed.”

According to the International Data Corporation, organisations globally will need to deal with 44 times more information each year over the next decade than they are managing today.

“IT managers know they face a monumental task in simply taming the deluge of data – but there is potentially huge payback in the form of big data analytics,” says Ward.

Ward adds that big data involves sifting vast amounts of information from multiple sources and figuring out patterns in human behaviour to enable organisations to “micro-target” products, services and, for campaign workers, their candidates.

“The Big Data Society has arrived and it is an opportunity for Ireland’s enterprise and public sectors to grasp with both hands,” says Ward.

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