Everyone is throwing the term “Big Data” around nowadays, but what do you really need to know about it? After attending a highly informative webinar on Big Data by govloop, I came away with these five key points. This list will give you the basics on Big Data, and the links under each item will allow you to delve deeper into that specific topic.

1. Big Data cannot solve problems. The term has become such a buzzword that it is tempting to think of Big Data as the source of all answers. While the analysis of Big Data can be extremely useful, Big Data is still a tool just like any other tool: it can help you solve problems, but it cannot solve them for you.

• “Open Data Opens New Doors,” an article from October’s PM magazine, discusses how local governments are finding uses for Big Data and how Big Data is much more than just a buzzword.

1. If you don’t know exactly what Big Data means, you are in good company! The experts don’t agree, either. However, it generally refers to massive amounts of unstructured data. One of the reasons the term is so hard to define is that Big Data can refer to any kind of data being generated, from social media to geospatial.

• “Smart Communities and the Opportunities of ‘Big Data’” offers an explanation of Big Data and its uses.
• “What Managers Think about the Data Revolution” is a short article with an attached video of city managers discussing the data revolution and the applications they think will be useful in the future.

1. When you start brainstorming a system using Big Data, think of the outcomes first. Do you want residents to know when the garbage truck or street cleaners are coming? Do you want them to know when every community event is occurring in the next calendar year? These two systems would look very different, but both would involve Big Data. Once you have an outcome in mind, it is easier to know what types of information to use and in what format they should be presented.
2. Transparency is another buzzword these days. Residents want their local government to be more transparent; they want to know what is going on in the community and how their tax dollars are being spent. Big Data can provide increased transparency. Local governments around the country are beginning to use GPS to track city vehicles on maps visible to residents, and some have enabled residents to report incidents in the community using the GPS in their smart phones. Citizen satisfaction with local government service delivery can be significantly increased as residents develop a greater understanding of how their tax dollars are used.

• “Open Data—Can Citizens and Government Employees Work Together?” highlights ways in which transparency is increased when citizens work with local government employees to create a better community.
• “Top 10 Benefits of Transparency” explains why transparency is important and how your community can benefit from it.
• “The Time for Transparency Is Now,” an article from June’s PM magazine, discusses the importance of increasing transparency in local government and why this is a critical time to be doing so.

1. Big data is here to stay. At first it may have seemed like a fad, but Big Data has proven to be very useful. Instead of thinking of Big Data and IT as two separate components of your local government, try getting your IT team to experiment and innovate with Big Data. It may just come up with something great!

• “‘Big Data’ Promises a Revolution,” an article in July’s PM magazine, focuses on how Big Data will become increasingly important in our society.
• “How Big a Deal Is Big Data?,” a blog by Jerry Schulz, illustrates the importance of Big Data in general and how it can be applied to local governments.

While this list is not by any means exhaustive, it should give you a good starting point as you begin integrating the analysis of Big Data into your local government practices. If you have any questions, comments, or ways in which your local government is already using Big Data, please share them below!