Creating a More Just and Merciful World
3 Ways Data Analytics is Building a Better World
Wherever information is being recorded, it stands to benefit from data analytics to provide insight, find connections and drive change. It is no wonder then that data analytics as a field covers a lot of ground from health care to marketing. Three fields you might not have considered for data analytics’ use include fighting climate change, strengthening security and enhancing education.
- Fighting climate change and managing energy use
Applications of data analytics that utilize smart-grid technologies and assess large-scale data correlations, can help curtail energy use and fight climate change.
On a community level, data analytics can help utility providers assess water, gas and electricity in ways that cut down on overall use and eliminate inefficiencies. For example, data analytics helps monitor dispatch crews, service outages and check for use spikes to recognize potential leaks and potential needs for the renovation of pipelines/service lines.
On a larger, more scientific level, climate scientists can link information sources from scientific databases, weather, news and more to draw attention to specific connections, causes and correlations. Many climate scientists advocate for system of systems (SoS) thinking that emphasizes how once-siloed data and models can be bridged to study the complex problems of climate change.
- Strengthening Security
Controlling large amounts of data may make organizations more vulnerable for cyber attacks. But having this data and using it well can also fight, predict or at the very least identify them. Data analytics applications can help strengthen security of companies, health care providers, communities and non-profit organizations through “cyber security analytics.”
Risk detection and risk management analytics tools, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence have helped organizations understand their security and safety. According to IT firm Syntax Technologies, cyber security analytics seeks to find insights from information already within a company’s data. By bringing together data already present in systems, applications, virus scanners, operating systems event logs, behavior data and so on, “security analytics experts [can] identify potential threats at an early stage and consequently provide them with the chance to abate them before they manage to creep into the network infrastructure, and result in data loss or breach or data leakage.”
- Enhancing Education
Teachers and those in the education industry are some of the earliest data workers, as they have used data to analyze learning outcomes, showcase information and understand personalized education curricula since the invention of homework.
Data analysis can help educators access more and better data, including the capability of visualizing it meaningfully. Carlow University, in fact is hosting a two-day workshop on July 19-20 for people to learn about the many ways that teachers enhance learning and education through data visualization through familiar software.
A Unique Data Program for Unique Data Careers
The bachelor’s degree in data analytics at Carlow prepares students with both the hard science, statistics and software skills required to succeed in a data analytics career as well as a number of elective opportunities in courses implementing and understanding data analytics in unique and specialized fields.