Big data from cheap phones
Mobile phone technology was an emerging technology of the
late 20th century. It led to the development of the device which
helped in connecting people through different means such as voice communication
and text messages. In this we look at the same the technology but
with more technical detail to see what the technology has offered us and things
that exist as technical information which can be used to help the society. One
of the emerging technologies which are based on mobile phones is ‘The Big data from cheap phones’.
A mobile device, whether a smart phone based on latest
Android or a simple mobile phone like the Nokia 3310, are all the end user
devices which are capable of handling the services provided by the service
provider. The real work is done the information center and the data center of
the cellular phone companies. Their technologies of back end centers are one of
the emerging technologies which can help gather data for social welfare and
security purposes.
According to (Talbot, 2013), even simple cellular phones
can give insight into the various customer behavior or activities which can
help in understanding important social issues. This has certainly impacted the
society in a big way as the information received can be used to handle things
which are harmful to our society. Moreover, the useful information, that is
positive impacts, can be maximized for even better results. (Talbot, 2013),
shows the use of such information in Africa to handle Malaria problems which
have resulted in number of deaths and has impaired the growth of the nation.
The strength of the technology lies in the advanced technologies used behind
the scenes rather than the handheld devices, which is used by the natives of
the epidemic region. Expensive and smart application phones can perform these
functions too and send back information to the data center for processing. The
positive point about the technology is being independent of the handheld device
and focus on the data center equipment which can gather process and analyze
data.
Here is a video which is shown to depict the various uses
of data mining and how it is done.
The lecturer shows the understanding and the
misunderstanding behind the data mining concept. The speaker has clearly shown
that the economy these days is knowledge and data based and everything we do
leads to data analysis for better behavior understanding. It is for the first
time that the concept is being applied to Mobile Phone Company and focus is on
the technologies and services provided as part of package that comes from the
service provider irrespective of what brand the hand set is, as long as it can
receive the signals.
According to (Talbot, 2013), Kenya cellular servicescould
track the coming and going of the people around the main impacted areas and
find the root cause of the problem which was Lake Victoria. Therefore, it is
clear that the cell region gives the location and helps identify the foot fall
in a particular region which is otherwise an extremely difficult task based on
surveys or asking questions to locals on the physical level. The feedback might
not be accurate as it would be difficult to handle a large population.
According to (Measuring Usability, 2013), there are many
statistical tools which can be deployed in the analysis of the data which is
collected from various sources based on surveys. These can be subjected to
Cluster sampling as mentioned by (Crossman, 2013), in his article showing how a
chosen cluster can represent the thinking of entire population and is
sufficient enough to be used. Still, there is no comparison between a surveyed
data and one collected based on true digital values. Hence, on the other hand,
the technologies deployed at the data center can easily find the exact cellular
number coming and going based on the frequency of the cell region. Every text
message and voice message can be retrieved and analyzed. Computerized programs
can be installed on machines to notify the cellular phone owners through text
messages about potential dangers when they enter a particular region.
(Crossman, 2013), cluster sampling techniques is just the
beginning as there are more widely used sampling methods like quota. Based on
the person registered with the number, the behavioral patterns can be studied
as it is being done in Kenya. (Measuring Usability, 2013), have also shown
correlation and regression methods which can be used with help of computer
software and data mining can be done easily and efficiently.
The emerging techniques are helping eradicate malaria in
the region of Kenya where it is affected the most. It can also be used for
other purposes such as security and welfare of people and warn them about the
impending dangers and timely reminders based on how the customers behave and
have different lifestyles. It can lead to a trend which can help in analyzing
data even from simple devices sitting from the data center and observing the
cell movements or information collected from the user. This should be used for
the welfare of people.
The emerging technology can be seen as a great strength
of the cellular services which have given various technologies to society. The
concept of mobile phones and cellular services were based on dividing the
region into cells where the device is roaming. This particular conpcet has
become the strength of the data mining and collecting big data from even a
simple handset.The data centers can gather the big data and analyze it quickly.
The future is based on data mining and what services it can provide to the
people of the region and what other investigative data can be obtained at the
back end of the cellular operations based on data mining, for the welfare of
the society.Various software upgrades can be made in
order to improve the services in the future.
References
Crossman, A. (2013). Cluster
sampling.Retrieved October 18, 2013 from http://sociology.about.com/od/Types-of-Samples/a/Cluster-Sample.htm
Measuring Usability. (2013). Fundamentals of Statistics 1: Basic Concepts Tutorial. Retrieved
October 18, 32013 from http://www.usablestats.com/tutorials/basicStats
Talbot, D. (2013). 10
breakthrough technologies of 2013: Bid data from cheap phones. Retrieved
October 18, 2013 from http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513721/big-data-from-cheap-phones/
Interesting choice of technology Sameer. The video was informative...lets see where this tech heads. You get a 15/20.
ReplyDeleteThe blog is absolutely fantastic. Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need.
ReplyDeleteWeb Designing Company Web Development Company Web Design Company