By The Open Group Conference Team
Since not everyone could make the trip to The Open Group Conference in Newport Beach, we’ve put together a recap of day one’s plenary speakers. Stay tuned for more recaps coming soon!
Big Data at NASA
In his talk titled, “Big Data at NASA,” Chris Gerty, deputy program manager, Open Innovation Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), discussed how Big Data is being interpreted by the next generation of rocket scientists. Chris presented a few lessons learned from his experiences at NASA:
- A traditional approach is not always the best approach. A tried and proven method may not translate. Creating more programs for more data to store on bigger hard drives is not always effective. We need to address the never-ending challenges that lie ahead in the shift of society to the information age.
- A plan for openness. Based on a government directive, Chris’ team looked to answer questions by asking the right people. For example, NASA asked the people gathering data on a satellite to determine what data was the most important, which enabled NASA to narrow focus and solve problems. Furthermore, by realizing what can also be useful to the public and what tools have already been developed by the public, open source development can benefit the masses. Through collaboration, governments and citizens can work together to solve some of humanity’s biggest problems.
- Embrace the enormity of the universe. Look for Big Data where no one else is looking by putting sensors and information gathering tools. If people continue to be scared of Big Data, we will be resistant to gathering more of it. By finding Big Data where it has yet to be discovered, we can solve problems and innovate.
To view Chris’s presentation, please watch the broadcasted session here: http://new.livestream.com/opengroup/Gerty-NPB13
Bringing Order to the Chaos
David Potter, chief technical officer at Promise Innovation and Ron Schuldt, senior partner at UDEF-IT, LLC discussed how The Open Group’s evolving Quantum Lifecycle Management (QLM) standard coupled with its complementary Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF) standard help bring order to the terminology chaos that faces Big Data implementations.
The QLM standard provides a framework for the aggregation of lifecycle data from a multiplicity of sources to add value to the decision making process. Gathering mass amounts of data is useless if it cannot be analyzed. The QLM framework provides a means to interpret the information gathered for business intelligence. The UDEF allows each piece of data to be paired with an unambiguous key to provide clarity. By partnering with the UDEF, the QLM framework is able to separate itself from domain-specific semantic models. The UDEF also provides a ready-made key for international language support. As an open standard, the UDEF is data model independent and as such supports normalization across data models.
One example of successful implementation is by Compassion International. The organization needed to find a balance between information that should be kept internal (e.g., payment information) and information that should be shared with its international sponsors. In this instance, UDEF was used as a structured process for harmonizing the terms used in IT systems between funding partners.
The beauty of the QLM framework and UDEF integration is that they are flexible and can be applied to any product, domain and industry.
To view David and Ron’s presentation, please watch the broadcasted session here: http://new.livestream.com/opengroup/potter-NPB13
Big Data – Panel Discussion
Moderated by Dana Gardner, Interarbor Solution, Robert Weisman , Build The Vision, Andras Szakal, IBM, Jim Hietala, The Open Group, and Chris Gerty, NASA, discussed the implications of Big Data and what it means for business architects and enterprise architects.
Big Data is not about the size but about analyzing that data. Robert mentioned that most organizations store more data than they need or use, and from an enterprise architect’s perspective, it’s important to focus on the analysis of the data and to provide information that will ultimately aid it in some way. When it comes to security, Jim explained that newer Big Data platforms are not built with security in mind. While data is data, many security controls don’t translate to new platforms or scale with the influx of data.
Cloud Computing is Big Data-ready, and price can be compelling, but there are significant security and privacy risks. Robert brought up the argument over public and private Cloud adoption, and said, “It’s not one size fits all.” But can Cloud and Big Data come together? Andras explained that Cloud is not the almighty answer to Big Data. Every organization needs to find the Enterprise Architecture that fits its needs.
The fruits of Big Data can be useful to more than just business intelligence professionals. With the trend of mobility and application development in mind, Chris suggested that developers keep users in mind. Big Data can be used to tell us many different things, but it’s about finding out what is most important and relevant to users in a way that is digestible.
Finally, the panel discussed how Big Data bringing about big changes in almost every aspect of an organization. It is important not to generalize, but customize. Every enterprise needs its own set of architecture to fit its needs. Each organization finds importance in different facets of the data gathered, and security is different at every organization. With all that in mind, the panel agreed that focusing on the analytics is the key.
To view the panel discussion, please watch the broadcasted session here: http://new.livestream.com/opengroup/events/1838807