GFQR 1026 Lecture 3: Big Data Analytics in Business

Course Information

• Course title: GFQR 1026: Big Data in “X”
• Lecture 3: Big Data Analytics in Business (1)
• Course offered by: Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University

Lecture 3: Outline

• Business Intelligence
• Types of Big Data Analytics used in Business
• Examples of Big Data Analytics in Business
• Technologies used in Business: Recommendation Systems & Cookies

Business Intelligence (BI)

• Businesses have used business intelligence (BI) tools for decades
• BI covers many applications and technologies to gather, store, analyze, and provide data access
• BI provides historical, current, and predictive views of business operations
• Combine BI with big data

Revenue from Big Data and Business Analytics

• Worldwide revenue from big data and business analytics increased from 2015 to 2022
• In 2018, the revenue was expected to be 166 billion U.S. dollars

Big Data Analytics

• Big data analytics is used in many fields: healthcare, telecom, insurance, government, finance, automobile, education, and retail
• This lecture focuses on big data in business

Types of Big Data Analytics

• Descriptive Analytics: This is the most traditional type of business analytics which analyzes past performance using historical data to find the reasons for success or failure
  • Example: Average weekly sales amount
• Predictive Analytics: This uses statistical models and forecasting techniques to understand future trends or potential outcomes
  • Example: Forecasting smart phone sales in the next year
• Prescriptive Analytics: This goes beyond predicting future outcomes by suggesting actions to benefit from the predictions. It looks at "why" things will happen, proposes decision options, and considers the impact of each option.
  • Example: Google self-driving car

Big Data in Aviation Industry

• Examples of big data in this industry: departure/arrival times of flights, social media activity, in-flight food preferences, and number of passengers
• Usages: aircraft maintenance, inventory management, fleet management, operations management (pilots, crew), staff management
• Benefits: smarter maintenance, improved safety, better service, reduced costs
• Related use cases from different airlines: United Airlines, British Airways, easyJet, Southwest Airlines, and Cathay Pacific are discussed.
  • These examples demonstrate how big data helps with tailoring customer experience through personalization, efficiency, and cost reduction.

Big Data in Retail Industry

• Case: Alibaba
  • One of Asia's top Big Data users
  • Online transactions reached US$ 84.5 billion (HK$ 659 billion) in 2021
  • Utilizes big data for personalized recommendations to cross-sell and up-sell products
• Other use cases discuss in detail how big data supports businesses in the retail industry.
  • There are example cases to show that big data supports businesses to understand and predict customer behavior.

Big Data in Banking & Finance Industry

• Case: Hang Seng Bank
  • Using online applications for loans without requiring income or address verification
  • Analyzing customer behavior and creditworthiness via Big Data
• Case: Citibank
  • Tracking more than 200 million customer accounts globally
  • Identifying and managing fraudulent transactions using Big Data
• Case: WeLend (by WeLab)
  • Hong Kong's first online lending platform founded in 2013
  • Loans to customers without direct meetings, relying on Big Data for approval and user risk assessment

Big Data in Insurance Industry

• Case: HSBC Insurance
  • Uses big data analysis for product innovations, such as the HSBC Term Protector and HSBC Cancer Term Protector
  • Understands customer needs and requirements better with big data
• Case: MLC Life Insurance
  • Using wearable technology to improve health activity and better provide insurance premiums
  • Focuses on product innovation, customer experience, and customer engagement with big data
• Case: ZhongAn Online Casualty and Property Insurance
  • China's first internet-only insurer
  • Utilizes a one-stop shop for buyers and owners of cars
• Offers discounts and better policies based on driver's behavior.

Big Data used for Hospitality Industry

• Case: Marriott
  • Uses unstructured/semi-structured data for demand forecasting, and optimizes room prices
• Case: Starwood Hotels and Resorts
  • Optimizing room pricing globally based on local and worldwide factors, events and weather and increase yearly revenue by 5%

Big Data Applications In Business Sectors

• Airline sector: using sensors to improve safety
• Retail sector: using analytics to optimize the business
• Bank and Finance sector: using analytics to differentiate fraudulent interactions and transactions
• Insurance sector: using analytics for risk assessment, fraud detection, marketing, customer experience.
• Hospitality sector: using analytics for optimal pricing and personalized marketing campaigns.

Big Data Around You

• Increasing number of connected devices per person.
• Big data is growing rapidly
• The technologies related to big data are in many areas.

Summary of Lecture 3

• This lecture covers business intelligence, big data analytics types, business examples, recommendation and technologies

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