Glossary:Big data
From CAF Network
Data is considered to be the raw material of the twenty-first century. Big data companies as well as states are expecting new impulses for economic growth and public value. Big data is characterised through three central features: data volume, data diversity and data speed. Due to the progressive digitalisation of almost all areas of society, the amount of fundamentally available data is increasing. Big data analytics provide versatile insights e.g. in the field of public safety (‘prospective policyanalysis’), services of general interest, education, and social and innovation policy.
Value refers to monetary, welfare, cultural and moral values. Moral values are considered to be more or less universal, whereas cultural values may shift between organisations as well as between countries. Cultural values within an organisation should be transmitted and practised, and also be related to the mission of the organisation. They may be quite different between non-profit organisations and private businesses.
Public value refers to the value that society derives from (public) services rather than individuals (private value). However, this added value is often undervalued and in many cases neither perceived by the public nor by its own organisation. In times of strained public budgets it is important to make the public value that is generated by public services visible. The public value approach is used by public organisations as well as non-profit organisations to make their own contribution and value to society transparent e.g. in the area of housing, public broadcasting, police.
