Can We Trust Big Data? CASE STUDY Today's companies are dealing with an avalanche of to scour multiple sites to book within their badget data from social media, search, and sensors as well Skyscanner uses information from more than as from traditional sources. According to one esti300 airlines, travel agents, and timetables and shapes mate, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day are gener the data into at-a-glance formats with algorithms to ated around the world. Making sense of -big data to keep pricing current and make predictions about improve decision making and business performance who will have the best deal for a given market has become one of the primary opportunities for organizations of all shapes and sizes, but it also repre- ment (see this chapters Interactive Session on Orga- sents big challenges Big data is also providing benefits in law enforce nizations), sports, education, science, and health care. A recent McKinsey Global Institute report estimated that the U.S. healthcare system could save $300 billion each year-$1,000 per American- Big data helps streaming music service Spotify create service that feels personal to each of its 75 million global users. Spotify uses the big data it collects on user list bytes daily) to design highly individualized pro that captivate its users around a particular mood or moment in time rather than offering the same tired genres. Users can constantly enhance their listen ing experience with data-driven features such as the cal treatments for chronic illnesses and common Discovery tool for new music, a Running tool that curates music timed to the beat of their workout and Taste Rewind-which tells what they would have listened to in the past by analyzing what they listen companies have rushed to start big data projects to now. By constantly using big data to fine-tune its services, Spotify hopes to create the perfect user experience. tening habits (more than 600 gigathrouh better integration and analysis of the data ductsproduced by everything from clinical trials to health insurance transactions to"smart" running shoes. Healthcare companies are currently analyzing big data to determine the most effective and economi- diseases and provide personalized care recommenda- tions to patients There are limits to using big data. A number of without first establishing a business goal for this new information. Swimming in numbers and other data doesn't necessarily mean that the right information s being collected or that people will make smarter A number of services have emerged to analyze big data to help consumers. There are now online services to enable consumers to check thousands of different flight and hotel options and book their own reservations, tasks previously handled by travel agents. For instance, a mobile app from Skyscanner shows deals from all over the web in one list-sorted by price, duration, or airline-so travelers don't have decisions Experts in big data analysis believe too many companies, seduced by the promise of big data, jump into big data projects with nothing to show for their efforts. They start amassing and analyz- ing mountains of data without no clear objective or understanding of exactly how analyzing big data