Big data is getting bigger, say delegates
Data loads at financial institutions are expected to increase significantly, according to a poll of delegates attending yesterday’s technology forum session on big data.
Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of those polled expected to see data loads at their organisations double over the next two years and 38 per cent expected to see 50-99 per cent growth, writes Neil Ainger. When asked how ready their organisations were to leverage the vast amount of internal and external data available to firms, 30 per cent admitted they weren’t ready, with 57 per cent stating they were only using it for selected functions. Thirteen per cent claimed they were ready to generate real-time insights now.
“I like the 30 per cent who are honest,” joked Paul Ventisei, global head of architecture at HSBC, pointing out that there were numerous and constantly changing legal and compliance issues around data, privacy and security. This meant it was a fast evolving field that needed a combination of skills from software/hardware engineers and data scientists.
Lee Fulmer, chief technology officer, corporate and investment bank at JP Morgan, added: “Privacy is a huge issue in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations. What is legal now might not be in the future. You may have to segregate data as rules change.”
The panellists at the session agreed big data was “probably as important as the internet was”. However, sounding a note of caution, Saket Sharma, chief information officer at BNY Mellon Treasury Services, said financial institutions needed to work out how to make big data useful if they were to get the best out of analytical technologies and sentiment analysis for activities such as real-time liquidity monitoring and allocation, payments and credit scoring. “I want to convert big data into useful information; that is key,” he said.
