Page 45 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2014

AC/E digital culture ANNUAL REPORT 2014education and 10% books, amongst the more than eight hundred thousand apps available for download.CULTURAL SENTIMENT ANALYSISWith all the digital devices we are carrying or wearing, the quantity of data we produce is enormous. To this has been added the flood of data from social networks, and it is estimated that a further flood will come from the connected devices we shall discuss below. Furthermore, all this data is collected and analysed. There can be no doubt as to the existence of what has been called Big Data, nor can there any longer be any doubt as to the usefulness for our lives of exploiting it in real time, although there were some doubts at the beginning. The highly respected scientist Lázsló Barabási, for example, author of the influential book Linked, which describes the functioning of the networks with reference to the irreversibility of Big Data, predicts that its impact on our lives will be equivalent to that of connection to the Internet.From a technological point of view, Big Data involves the use of specific hardware for the storage and recovery of large volumes of information: modern No‐SQL databases; real‐time event processing systems and a new generation of advanced tools for statistical analysis.The problem is that as human beings our capacity to understand and consume Big Data is limited, so we need new solutions to resolve the problem and take advantage of the opportunity. Sentiment Analysis systems can analyse and exploit the enormous volumes of data generated by users of the social media and can support different business decisions on the basis of trends in consumption or intention to purchase, for example.The real‐time use and exploitation of large volumes of data for the taking of major decisions is a factor affecting competitiveness in any industry, includingAC/Ethe cultural industry. For example, Big Data technologies are often used to segment marketing offers and this also applies to the marketing of books, exhibitions, films, photography, music, etc.— something which is becoming more and more necessary in view of the hyperabundance of data that afflicts us.The value of thistype of analysisin public health,global warmingproblems orfinancialturbulence isplainlyaccepted; nonetheless, analysis of its impact in the cultural arena is advancing only lackadaisically. At least at first sight it seems that the IoT and the Big Data phenomenon have not left much mark on the statistics for the cultural sector, although one of the hypotheses of this article is that data on creativity industries lie hidden under headings such as distribution or entertainment, while detailed analysis and case studies do reveal a greater impact than the statistics would suggest at first sight. It must be said, nonetheless, that according to an analysis by McKensey these technologies will affect all sectors, but some more than others. According to this report, in 2009 there were already 269 petabytes of education data stored in the United States and 717 petabytes of communications and media, facts which lead the consultancy to conclude that in the cultural industry, those that can most benefit are the education and entertainment sectors.An ever greater impact is expected from the use and real time exploitation of Big Data with advanced toolsDIGITAL IDENTITY OF CULTURAL OBJECTSAnother major trend to come that has the Cloud at its epicentre is the “Internet of Things”. This phrase refers to a level of the Net in which a series of intelligent things are connected together, using IP to facilitate interoperability. Furthermore, it calls forWHERE WE ARE HEADING: DIGITAL TRENDS IN THE WORLD OF CULTURETHEME 4: CULTURE IN THE CLOUD CURRENT PAGE...45