The Data Vault: Top 10 data articles, 5-11 October

Mobile business intelligence has evolved from being a nice-to-have to a must-have for many of today's businesses, and mobile capabilities are now high on the list when organizations are considering BI tools. With the global workforce becoming more and more mobile and business moving faster than ever, it is crucial that people can take their KPIs and latest business information with them when they're on the go.

The oil price collapse was supposed to boost the U.S. economy by prompting consumers to spend their savings on other goods and services. During the first half of this year, though, data seemed to suggest that they were saving the windfall instead, damaging economic growth.

CEO Alan Joyce has won plenty of plaudits (at least from his peers and money folk) for the reversal of fortunes at beleaguered airline Qantas. The carrier was on its knees financially a few years back, yet under Joyce's tough but extremely focused leadership the company is appearing to turn things around.

Big data is coming to the university system to implement statistical methods for determining how students will fare in college and change the way campus decisions are made. USF is one of the universities currently working on using data to help students maintain higher grades, graduate on time and find well-paying jobs after graduation.

In Major League Baseball, statistics like batting average and pitch speed are so yesterday. In this day and age, MLB has advanced stats to give fans more detail than ever when watching the game. And much of it is powered by Amazon Web Service's cloud.

Print this page Email article With new and more accessible technology, there is now an opportunity to analyse exciting data which was previously impossible (or uneconomic) to do. But, what if by focusing on big data analytics many companies are missing the real bigger picture?

As a business owner, it is important to ensure that you are always leveraging the most effective, yet economical solutions possible. Cloud computing is one of those things that most people have heard of, but few truly understand. If you thought that this was simply a passing trend, it is time to think again.

Can you imagine someone telling you how likely you are to win a trade in oil if you open it today? How much would you pay for such information assuming it was for real?

In the last 20 years, the number of high tech sensors in the oceans has increased from virtually none to 750,000. The information they gather is now worth $5 billion, according to estimates from Planet OS, a a startup that aggregates and analyzes ocean data.

Financial institutions in Europe may face tougher rules governing their use of big data thanks to a new investigation by financial regulators. Focusing on the "opportunities and challenges" associated with big data, the new investigation aims to determine whether new regulatory or supervisory measures are needed, according to a joint statement published Monday by the European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.