1.2 The Five Vs of big data
One way you can think about the different ways big data will impact your business is to use what is called a ‘Big Data Architecture Framework’ or ‘BDAF’, which can help you think about how your data will be collected, stored, processed, analysed and applied.
An early version of a BDAF (McAfee & Brynjolfsson, 2012) identified three characteristics of big data (volume, velocity and variety). Later, two more characteristics were added to create what is now known as the ‘Five Vs of Big Data’:
Volume – how much data is generated and used?
Veracity – how trustworthy and reliable are the data?
Variety – how many types of data are collected and what business decisions could these different types of data help with?
Velocity – the speed by which data can be collected and used, such as in real time.
Value – what value can businesses gain from using and analysing data?
In the next activity you’ll see how you can apply a BDAF to a drone case.
Activity 1
Read the short case study below about the use of drones for the delivery of small parcels. Then match the questions with the correct BDAF characteristic.
Dimitar owns a farm supply depot in Bitola, a city on the Dragor River in the southwestern agricultural region of North Macedonia. He has recently agreed to work with a local drone group to test a small parcel delivery service in the area. Using an online ordering service, Dimitar’s rural customers – many of them farmers of Bitola’s famous red peppers – can now order small parts and dry goods from his store and have them delivered to them via drone. The project is partly sponsored through a grant from the government to see how drones can help to provide better access to essential goods in rural areas.
Knowing that customer data, such as financial information, is highly sensitive, Dimitar has been particularly interested in how his customers’ data will be handled and stored, as well as the costs of ensuring data security. He also wants to make sure that deliveries are timely and free from error. He has asked the drone group a series of questions to learn more about how data will be created and used in the project.
Match Dimitar’s questions with the correct BDAF characteristic.
Comment
Dimitar’s questions all contribute to a better understanding of how the drones (and the data they use) contribute value to his business. Therefore, a crucial task for any business generating, collecting, analysing, using, storing, or selling big data is to determine the costs associated with these activities. Any aggregated costs need to be less than the value of the data – otherwise, it can severely impact on the success of the business (Khan et al., 2014). While managing big data can be an additional cost for businesses (such as hiring professionals), small businesses, start-ups and early prototyping may be able to bypass some (but not all) of these costs. However, any plans for scaling up to expand the business will need to revisit the BDAF to assess its impact on operations, especially if these introduce new risks.
Similarly, as the regulatory environment is changing quickly to address new innovations in the sector, drone-related businesses will need to monitor how these changes might impact on the value of their data, including how customers might assess its value. For example, regulations that relax requirements on Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) when used for last mile delivery models could make drones a much more attractive alternative to traditional delivery methods.