Data and Competitive Advantage: Databases, Analytics, and Prepping Data for Use with AI

This set of flashcards covers essential vocabulary related to data management, databases, and analytics, as outlined in the lecture on competitive advantage from data.

Data

Raw or unorganized facts and figures.

Information

Data put in a context to make decisions.

Knowledge

Insight derived from experience.

Big Data

The collections of large, complex, and often unstructured data sets.

Database

Single table or a collection of related tables.

Row or Record

A row in a database table represents a single instance of what the table tracks.

Column or Field

A column in a database table shows the category of data contained in a record.

Data Aggregators

Big tech firms that collect and resell data, tracking individuals through available personal information online.

Relational Database

The most common standard for expressing databases, where tables are related based on common keys.

Database Management Systems (DBMS)

Software for creating, maintaining, and manipulating databases.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

A language used to create and manipulate databases.

Data Warehouse

A set of databases to support decision-making, collecting data from many operational systems.

Data Mart

A database focused on addressing the concerns of a specific problem or business unit.

Data Lake

A large amount of raw, unstructured, and structured data pooled for free-form exploration.

Data Mining

The process of using computers to identify hidden patterns in large datasets.

Business Intelligence (BI)

A term combining aspects of reporting, data exploration, and data modeling.

Analytics

Statistical and quantitative analysis, including explanatory and predictive models to make decisions.

Machine Learning

A type of AI that improves on its own without additional programming by leveraging massive data.