The era of big data and path towards sustainability

This paper is an attempt to throw light on the applications of big data analytics in nurturing sustainable develoment through a descriptive metadata study. Big data is widely used in many areas such as hospitality, transporataion, health, governance, e-commerce etc. Common applications of big data include consumer profiling, personalised pricing, marketing, advertising and predictive analysis. One of the formidable challanges confronted by the businesses in the contemporary period is to reconcile the conflicting interests of profit maximisation and fostering sustainability. The unprecedented magnitude of data generated within the organisations do have the potential to bring gainful insights for efficient resource utilisation and waste minimisation. The advent of big data aids in making these conflicting interests complementary by providing efficient and precise predicitions. A number of studies are going on to explore possible options avialable to leverage big data analytics to create social and environmental value. Novel analytical approaches, enormous amounts of data and new technology would help in gaining insights to frame more agile and efficient policies to protect the environment. This paper discusses how big data is applied in different areas to foster sustainability.