Reader Feedback: Three Reasons Big Data Is a Big Deal

I read with interest your control report on page 78 of the January issue, and I’d like to offer a couple of add-on points.

• While it is true that big data is just data, the “big deal, which I’d translate into improved profitability for customers comes when you aggregate and analyze all those sources of data in new ways and derive new outcomes from them. The combination of computing power, connectivity and cloud infrastructure with high-fidelity data from fleets of like devices and advances in analytic algorithms are driving new levels of equipment upside and performance. (I am certain that the GE Intelligent Platforms customers that have benefited from the 10,000+ “catches” preventing catastrophic failure of their assets would attest to that).
• The Internet of Things (IoT) becomes really useful when people place enough emphasis on the “T,” meaning that acquiring, aggregating, analyzing and presenting data is the starting point for new value equation, and the opportunity to automatically drive enhanced behaviors back into the “Thing” under control presents a new dimension of value. (The Nest thermostat was a very early indicator of this type of trend, with updates to the temperature control algorithms pushed to the fleet automatically).
• The third opportunity comes from optimizing the fleet based on real-time connectivity between assets, plus fleet-level algorithms. A good example of this is the wind farm optimization technology we introduced recently at GE that analyzes multiple sources of data from sensors and each turbine in real time, then selectively powers/de-powers individual turbine blades to maximize performance for the complete field.

I think the IoT can be a HUGE deal for customers that stretch its capabilities in new ways.

Bernie Anger
GE Intelligent Platforms
[email protected]

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