Big data techniques, systems, applications, and platforms: Case studies from academia

Big data is a broad term with numerous dimensions, most notably: big data characteristics, techniques, software systems, application domains, computing platforms, and big data milieu (industry, government, and academia). In this paper we briefly introduce fundamental big data characteristics and then present seven case studies of big data techniques, systems, applications, and platforms, as seen from academic perspective (industry and government perspectives are not subject of this publication). While we feel that it is difficult, if at all possible, to encapsulate all of the important big data dimensions in a strict and uniform, yet comprehensible language, we believe that a set of diverse case studies - like the one that is offered in this paper - a set that spreads over the principal big data dimensions can indeed be beneficial to the broad big data community by helping experts in one realm to better understand currents trends in the other realms.