The collection and analysis of large amounts of data from multiple sources can lead to better business intelligence, more informed decision support, better use of scarce resources, a higher degree of product personalisation and automation, better understanding of customer behaviour, and deeper insight in root causes of diseases, production defects, and security threats.

Big data also confronts us with challenges: how can we collect, store, analyse, and interpret these data in a findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable way?