May 18 : Sports

Player tracking transforming NBA analytics (espn.com)

You ever wonder what NBA assistant coaches are scribbling on their clipboards during games? They’re taking down stats. But not the stats you’ll read in any box score. They’re logging numbers like touches in the paint, passes per possession, three-pointers off kick-out passes, secondary assists, fouls drawn – information central to a game’s outcome but not found anywhere near a traditional box score. read more

May 17 : Banks

Crunching the numbers (economist.com)

Banks know a lot abouth their customers. That information may be valuable in more ways than one. A big bank hires a star analyst from another firm, promising to pay a substantial bonus if the new hire increases revenue or cuts costs. In banking this happens all the time, but this deal differs from the rest in one small detail: the new hire, Watson, is an IBM computer. Watson became something of a celebrity after beating the champion human contestants on “Jeopardy”, an American quiz show. Its skill is to be able to process millions of documents quickly by reading and “understanding” ordinary written language. read more

May 16 : General Topic

Big data is nothing without big science (cnet.com)

As with gold or oil, data has no intrinsic value, writes Webtrends CEO Alex Yoder. Big science, which bridges the gap between knowledge and insight, is where the real value is. As the likes of Google, Facebook, Adobe Systems, and IBM embrace big data with gusto, startups are also popping up with the promise to help companies discover what one of the most valuable assets in the world can accomplish for them. read more

May 15 : General Topic

PwC Technology Forecast (pwc.com)

What effect will the new analytics have on your organizational change strategy? Technology Forecast: Reshaping the workforce with the new analytics explores the impact of the new analytics and a culture of inquiry enterprises can foster with the help of emerging data analysis tools and services. read more

May 14 : Research

Big Data in Healthcare Research (californiahealthline.org)

Collecting and manipulating enormous amounts of data soon will begin to play a vital role in research and delivery of health care, according to California leaders of the "big data" movement. "You're starting to see a crescendo of big data efforts and that's sharply increasing awareness of what that can mean in health care," said David Haussler, director of the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering at UC-Santa Cruz. read more