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BIG DATA

Big data is the next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. A New York Times article called data scientists “magicians” and emphasized the potential of enormous amounts of data created by modern technologies. Data scientists “crunch the data, use mathematical models to analyze it, and create narratives or visu alizations to explain it, then suggest how to use the information to make decisions,” the Times reported. The new buzz word is old news to the Virginia Tech Transporta tion Institute (VTTI). “VTTI has been doing big data for more than a decade,” said Brian Daily, software developer for the Institute. When Daily arrived at VTTI in 1995, it was still known as the Center for Transportation Research and was housed in one suite in a building at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Daily was hired as systems administrator and a software devel oper. He had received a B.S. in electrical engineering with a mi nor in computer science from Virginia Tech in 1992, and he was glad of the opportunity to get back to Blacksburg. As data grew, he became a full-time software developer and database adminis trator for VTTI research databases. The first projects to create large databases were the 511 project and the 100-Car Study. VTTI began work on the Travel Shenandoah project in 1999 as an advanced traveler information system that would be available on the web and by cell phone. Daily and former VTTI employee Aaron Schroeder wrote the software and created the website. Daily built the voice XML system – the interactive voice dialogs between a human and a computer. “People can ask for informa tion on a range of topics,” he said.

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