The Open University of Catalania just posted a very brief article of mine about the importance of the fact that Big Data is also Networked Big Data. Upon reading it in “print” I see that I buried the lede.

The amazing thing is that the same network that connects our machines also connects us. This enables a seamless conversation: “if you can get at the data, you can get at people talking about the data”if you can get at the data, you can get at people talking about the data.

Not only does the same network connect the data and the people making sense of the data, but layers of interoperability have grown on top of it. Increasingly the data is accessible in ways that make it easier and easier for humans to mash it up. And, of course, the sense that humans make of those mashups gets expressed in ways that are interoperable for humans: in language, with links.

That we take this awesomeness for granted makes that awesomeness awesome.

Be the first to comment »