Healthcare to humanitarian aid: making the data explosion work for us

Data isn't just about retail analysis - when used in scientific applications it has bigger uses from targeted personal health treatment to tackling poverty and disease

In 140 AD, Ptolemy noted that an oar appeared to change direction when it went underwater. Like any good scientist, he compiled measurements, allowing him to make predictions about how an object would appear as it entered the water at different angles.

Centuries later, scientists developed accurate techniques for filling in the gaps between the limited set of measured data points, opening up new understanding of the world. We could now extrapolate from measurements to make new predictions, from the size of the earth to how chemicals react.