Big data, an IT industry term, refers to a collection of data that cannot be captured, managed, and processed within a certain timeframe using conventional software tools, and is a massive, high-growth, and diverse information asset that requires new processing modes in order to have stronger decision-making, insight discovery, and process optimization capabilities.

In The Age of Big Data [1] by Viktor Mayer Sch?nberg and Kenneth Kukier Big Data refers to the use of all data for analysis and processing without using shortcuts such as random analytics (sampling). The 5V characteristics of Big Data (proposed by IBM): Volume, Velocity, Variety, Value, Veracity.