Big data creating new knowledge as support in decision-making: practical examples of big data use and consequences of using big data as decision support

ABSTRACT

Decision-making in organisations faces a change due to the increasing amount of data offering new possibilities in information management and decision-making, or what is called ‘big data’. Despite the interest in big data, little is yet known about the outcome of the practical use of big data in organisations and a wider discussion of its implications is encouraged. This article contributes with examples of how big data is used in practice in the public sector, visualised with a case from the local government context, and how practitioners view big data and the changes in information and knowledge management following with it. Big data is discussed in the theoretical light of organisational knowledge creation and decision-making in organisations. The findings suggest that creating new information and knowledge out of big data, and its use as support for decision-making in organisations, would enhance the quality and increase trustworthiness in decision-making.

KEYWORDS:

• Big data use
• decision support
• organisational knowledge creation
• role of information
• public sector

Notes

1. This case study was conducted within the multi-disciplinary research project ‘Big cities meet Big data: A Case of Turku’.

2. All and more information on the City of Turku can be found on their web page https://www.turku.fi/en/turku-info

3. The City of Turku uses the term ‘division’. In this article, ‘department’ is equivalent to division or sector, and will thus be used instead.

4. The Six City Strategy – Open and Smart Services’ (‘6Aika – Avoimet ja älykkäät palvelut’ in Finnish) is a strategy for sustainable urban development carried out by the six largest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu. The strategy will be carried out between 2014 and 2020 with the aim of creating new know-how, business and jobs in Finland.

5. Statistics Finland combines collected data with its own expertise to produce statistics and information services.

6. Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

7. The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is a research and development institute.