The data deluge in our modern life and times has rightly led to concerns about how to manage and analyze it in meaningful and efficient ways to ensure that our lives and environments are better, more secure, sustainable and productive. The emergence of the field of Big Data Analytics (BDA) has rightly led researchers and leaders in academia, industry and governments across the world to increasingly address a variety of important issues in a data-driven manner. Yet, often Big Data (BD) are too large to be processed and analyzed by traditional IT technologies, and with the constantly evolving features and requirements of modern lifestyles and environments, BD is fast becoming pervasive – high volume and high velocity data streams and sensors, graphs and social networks, images and videos, etc., all of which need our urgent attention. Major scientific projects are increasingly dependent on BDA. However, apparently, only limited endeavors to develop core expertise in BDA or dedicated BDA research and training activities – perhaps even less in terms of concerted and visionary strategic efforts in this direction – currently exist in India, especially outside the industrial arena. Under such circumstances, it is possible that some of the so-called efforts on BDA will be unstructured, arbitrary or clouded in hype. Clearly, the situation calls for serious and long-term planning and preparedness in India to build on the emerging paradigms, e.g. “Internet of Things”, in the coming decades.
This is especially significant for India since it is among the fastest growing populations and economies in the world, while it also faces unique and major challenges in health, education, governance, security, as well as in socio-economic and environmental terms. Indeed our country stands to gain immensely in a variety of areas where public policy and decision-making can be guided by BDA such as personalized and public health, education, agriculture, finance, humanities, human migration and urbanization, security challenges, smart city planning, crime management, pollution control, environmental challenges, biodiversity, energy and waste management, etc.
To address the challenges of Big Data Analytics, A Special Interest Group was conceived and proposed by Prof. Saumyadipta Pyne. Thus, in 2014, under the leadership of Prof. Saumyadipta Pyne, CSI SIG BDA was established and its first meeting was held in CR RAO AIMSCS,Hyderabad.
Objectives and Planned Activities of SIG-BDA The list of activities of SIG-BDA will include, but not be limited to, the following: