Internet has revolutionized the world changing the way we interact bringing with it a transformative change in the lives of people. Move a few years ahead and you will realize another significant transformation that's shaping our future-‘Data’. From the drop of a hat to a blink of an eye, a massive data explosion is taking place around us.

Here’s a look at some unique real life experiences where data and analytics is significantly impacting our daily lives.

IoT and Big Data-A big push for Smart Cities
Big Data is an essential component that is driving the Smart Cities movement, along with more general advances in technology bringing about a significant change in the way cities will be operated and managed. With the expansion of big data and emergence of Internet of Things (IoT), cities are getting smarter with smart control over transport, surveillance, energy, water and even waste disposal. Siemens for example is leveraging the Internet of Things and the Analytics of Things for the creation of the ‘smartest city’ in the world in Aspern, Austria. India is expected to become the most-populous country in the world by 2030 and with increasing population migrating to urban centres, Smart cities concept is rightly placed to create more jobs, improve civic amenities, provide for speedy and hassle-free transport system, uninterrupted and clean power, water supply and ultimately good quality of life for our future generation.

Machine learning - Leading the way for Innovation, Competition and Productivity
“Machine learning” is today’s buzz word with everyone talking about it.It’s fun, challenging, puzzling, and at time looks even a bit scary with opinions that make you believe that robots will take over humans someday- steal our jobs and rule the world. But in the real world, businesses are leveraging machine learning not just for innovation but also to stay ahead of the competition. Take for example,the search results on Google or even the advancement in ‘speech recognition’,today you can converse with your device with Google Assistant and Apple Siri thanks to deep integration of data analytics. You have Facebook using machine learning for face recognition while Paypal is leveraging machine learning to detect frauds.From real-time strategic optimization, predictive analysis and maintenance to discovering newer trends, the potential impact of machine learning is significant across industries. The quality of learning and insights is based on the data richness and variety and increasing number of industries are making the best use of it. The potential of‘Big data’technologies is significant in respect to advanced robotics, one that could lead to a qualitative leap in the performance and ability to deploy robotics in a wide array of practical applications and real settings.

Air Pollution and Water Management: Addressing the core
Clean air is a human right but air pollution is growing to be one of the biggest challenges for countries alike. And cities around the world have a long way to go before they bring air quality down to levels

recommended by the World Health Organization. According to reports, globally there was a 60 percent rise in deaths attributed to ozone with a striking 67 percent of this increase occurring in India alone. Determining contributing factors like poor air quality or inadequate access to clean water can help aid organizations provide targeted solutions. Technology companies that are well versed in collecting and analyzing data have the potential to contribute resources to not only keep diseases from spreading but also prevent them from happening at all. China, among the badly affected countries today uses big data analytics to merge weather and air-quality information with chemical modeling to assist early-warning systems for potentially severe smog incidents. Satellite and sensor data is being used to analyze and predict general air quality and pollution by particulate matter.

With the expansion of big data and emergence of Internet of Things (IoT), cities are getting smarter with smart control over transport, surveillance, energy, water and even waste disposal

To better manage our water resource, reduce wastage and to develop and maintain, the need for an intelligent management has been identified for years. Today Big data is helping us experience it for real benefitting stakeholders across the water ecosystem. Data collected from cost-effective smart meters, SCADA systems, and water quality instrumentation reveals interesting insights on water usage, pressure and temperature with extreme accuracy through milliliter measurements taken each second. The implementation of such smart water meters allows for domestic water consumption data to be recorded which can then help regulators forecast water demand and achieve real-time efficiency gains in the water supply network.

With real time analytics, advanced graphical representation, big data today enables real time actionable intelligence,a small yet considerate step towards addressing the bigger challenge.

Healthcare:Revolutionizing India's healthcare
From clinical operations, research and development,public health, genome study, remote monitoring, evidence-based medicine, and more, India’s healthcare is poised to witness some tectonic changes. New age digital startups are mushrooming in India giving new shape to Indian healthcare sector. From working on preventive health care and monitoring solutions to managing the medical records of the users and creating a comprehensive platform to address healthcare needs is all part of the data driven growth. More and more companies are currently investing their efforts towards mining path-breaking insights by analyzing the existing volumes of healthcare and patient data available. With extensive collaboration, better insights, the future of healthcare analytics is bright. Most researchers believe that Big Data analysis has the potential to bridge the gap in access to quality healthcare with a promise of more personalized medicine and treatment. The healthcare landscape is witnessing significant benefit from such ventures as it will help in delivering personalized healthcare services swiftly, efficiently and within everyone’s reach.

Data Analytics driving next wave of Energy efficiency
Energy’s use of big data may seem abstract and future-focused. However, real progress is being made at a number of companies across the country and globally. Take Pacific Gas & Electric, a Teradata customer for example. The US based utility company that charted its way from one reading per month per customer to the ability to collect as many as 12 readings per minute. With more than 5.4 million electricity customers it’s leveraging a pool of data to optimize usage and bring efficiency to daily operations. Utilities are beginning to change how they leverage smart meters. It’s a trend toward data-driven decision-making that aims to balance the demand for electricity with its supply. The trick is to find the right information in all that data. Another Teradata Customer, Southern California Edison (SCE) is using data from its smart meter program to improve internal operations and build a new partnership with their customers. Energy planning in India is still being done in terms of 'elasticity of energy supplied' and 'elasticity of electricity generated'. Investments made in data analytics infrastructure are improving operational efficiency, reducing the cost of energy for individual and companies ultimately helping protect the environment. Using information from meters, building management systems and individual pieces of equipment is now starting to change the way companies look at modeling, selling and developing energy efficiency projects. In many parts of India where energy theft regularly exceeds 30 percent, data analytics is increasingly being utilized to cross-check consumption against monthly bills to identify possible thefts.

We may not recognize at this instance but smart technologies and advanced data analytics has already brought significant changes in the world around us and as it continues, we will see a lot of our sci-fi dreams turning into reality.