CHAPTER 10

How Big Data Is Changing the Way We Live

Sectors Ripe for Big Data Projects

The starting line at Ironman France 2012 was eerily quiet. There was a nervous tension in the air as 2,500 people got ready to enter the water and spend as many as the next 16 hours trying to complete what was for some the goal of a lifetime. Made famous by the Ironman World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii every year, an event that started out as a 15-person race in 1978 is now a global phenomenon.

Ironman contenders, like almost all athletes, are some of the most data-driven people on earth. Completing the race, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile marathon, takes focus, perseverance, and training.

It also requires an incredible ...

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